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THE CAVEMAN 
WITHIN US 



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THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

His Peculiarities and Powers; How we can 
Enlist his Aid for Health and Efficiency 



BY 

WILLIAM J. FIELDING 

Author of "Sanity in Sex," etc. 



One impulse art thou conscious of, at best; 
0, never seek to knoio the other! 
Tvx> souls, alas! reside within my breast, 
A?id each vrithdraws from, and repels, its brother. 

— Goethe. 




NEW YORK 
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

681 Fifth Avenue 



Copyright, 1922, 
By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 



All Rights Reserved 



Printed in the United States of America 



NOV 20 '22 

C1AG80036 



DEDICATED TO 

The Caveman Within 

WHOSE COOPERATION 
MADE THIS WORK POSSIBLE 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/cavemanwithinusOOfiel 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction xi 

CHAPTER 

I. The Caveman and the Modern — Our Dual 

Nature 1 

The Basis of Witchcraft — Primitive Seasoning 
— Insanity in Eetrospect — Emotional Appeal 
of Eeligion. 

II. The Caveman's Background — Our Primitive 

Personality 15 

Man's Great Antiquity — Inherent Prehuman 
Modes of Action — Law of Becapitulation — 
Mental Kecapitulation — Autonomic Nervous 
System — The Ductless Glands. 

III. The Caveman's Veneer — Our Cultural Per- 

sonality 43 

Early Culture — Intellectual Capacity and 
Knowledge — Heredity and Environment. 

IV. The Caveman Unmasked — Eeveling in Dreams 65 

Age of Dream Interest — Plain Wish Fulfilment 
— So-called Prophetic Dreams — Indicating 
Physical Ailments — Typical Dreams — Sleep — 
Normal Eegression of Primitive Self — Day 
Dreams. 

V. The Caveman's Diversions 98 

Wit and Humor — Primitive Wit — Humor and 
Adolescence — Jokes and Ancient Taboos — Wit 
and Laughter — Adventure and Physical En- 
deavor. 

VI. The Caveman's Tricks 117 

Forgetfulness — The Ego and Names — Mislay- 
ing Objects — Unconscious Memories — Erroneous 
Actions and Speech. 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAPTEK PAGE 

VII. The Caveman's Passion 134 

The Parent Image — A Neurotic Basis — Homo- 
sexuality — Narcissism — Fetichism — Exhibition- 
ism — Sadism and Masochism. 

VIII. The Caveman Fretting 159 

The Untiring Nerves — The (Edipus Complex — 
Worry and Fear — Neurotic Negativism. 

IX. The Caveman Sick 172 

The Libido — Physical Symptoms of Neuroses — 
Disturbance of Sexual Processes — The Psy- 
choses — Graduations of Insanity. 

X. The Caveman's Eeligious Heritage . . . 189 
Phallic Worship — Phallic Symbolism in Archi- 
tecture — Universality of Symbols — Symbolism 
in Ceremonies — Symbolism in Numbers — Sym- 
bols — Language of Primitive Personality. 

XI. The Caveman Eebels 204 

The Ego Urge — Authority Complex — Badical- 
ism — Conservatism. 

XII. The Caveman's Halted Development . . . 221 
Army Mental Tests — Emotional Immaturity — 
Heredity versus Environment — Imitative Be- 
havior. 

XIII. The Caveman Breaks Loose 241 

Mass and Class Mobs — Tyranny of Crowd 
Spirit — Crowd Witch-hunting — Eace Eiots and 
Pogroms — National Mobs and War. 

XIV. The Caveman Disowned 262 

Puritanical Obsessions — Professional Eeformers 
— Blanket Social Inhibitions. 

XV. The Caveman and the Genius 276 

Artistic Genius — Literary Genius — Political 
and Military Genius — Philosophical and Scien- 
tific Genius — Eeligious Genius. 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTEB PAGE 

XVI. The Caveman Split Off 305 

Alternating Personalities — A Case of Complete 
Amnesia — Boy and Girl Alternating Personali- 
ties — A Secondary Personality That Fled — A 
Case of Quintuple Personality. 

XVII. The Caveman Partly Dissociated .... 328 
Stammering — Somnambulism — Partial Amnesia 
— Epilepsy — Hypnosis. 

XVIII. The Caveman Conciliated 344 

Believing Psychic Disturbances — Childhood 
Problems — Power of Suggestion — Coordinating 
the Psychic Powers. 



INTRODUCTION 

It is generally agreed that the great preponder- 
ance of human ills and ailments is due to dis- 
turbances of a neurotic character. The effects 
of these disturbances are so manifold and far- 
reaching that the real seat of the trouble is often 
obscured by the physical symptoms. Because 
these symptoms may express themselves through 
any organ, muscle or portion of the body, and 
simulate almost any known malady, the problem is 
an exceedingly intricate, and frequently a baffling 
one. 

So-called " nervous exhaustion," neurasthenia 
and other neuroses of various types and degrees 
of morbidity are conceded to be the diseases most 
typical of our civilization. Notwithstanding their 
supremacy in the domain of pathology, it is the 
purpose of this book to show that these "nervous" 
afflictions are not in any way the inevitable result 
of cultural progress, but rather that they are ex- 
crescences to be avoided. Even more specifically, 
it is the object of this work to demonstrate liow 
they may be avoided. 

These subtle and sinister disorders are in real- 
ity maladjustments of the mechanism of person- 
ality. They indicate a lack of coordination be- 
tween the primitive and cultural components of 



xii INTRODUCTION 

our nature. They represent a struggle between 
the Caveman and the Socialized Being. Para- 
doxically, these two constituents are one and indi- 
visible, merged into a single organism, and yet each 
is as real in the distinctive characteristics that it 
manifests as though the span of a hundred thou- 
sand years separated their existence. 

When two such heterogeneous factors — each 
with innate tendencies peculiar to itself — are in- 
corporated into a single organic entity, it is evi- 
dent than an intelligent understanding of the 
mechanism as a whole is not only desirable, but 
absolutely necessary, for internal harmony and 
efficient operation. 

It is because of the necessity for realizing the 
importance of the human being's great primitive 
heritage as a dominant influence in the present, 
that I have stressed this phase of the subject, par- 
ticularly in Chapter II. In order to obtain a true 
picture of the personality, it is essential that it 
should be shown in the perspective of its immense 
biological background. 

Naturally, the researches of the psychoanalytic 
school have been drawn upon and the fundamental 
psychic laws brought into their proper relation 
with the findings of the experimental physiolo- 
gists, and all of these are correlated with the 
accepted hypotheses of the leading biologists and 
anthropologists. The result is a many-sided view 
of the human organism, with all its dynamic rami- 
fications. 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

But a complete exposition of the personality is 
hardly possible by setting forth merely the vital 
facts of biology, psychology and physiology. It is 
equally important to show the reactions of the 
inherent emotic^ 01 mature to social phenomena, 
and to fulfil this requirement I have drawn upon 
a wealth of historical and biographical material. 

Throughout the entire period of history and, 
from what we may infer, long before that time, no 
phase of man's social life has found so rich a field 
for expression as the religious. Because the his- 
tory of mankind has been woven into the warp 
and woof of innumerable supernatural beliefs, all 
of which, however, have so much in common, it is 
fitting that a chapter should be devoted to the 
appeal of religion to the emotional or primitive 
side of man. 

Both ancient and modern man has been dom- 
inated by popular prejudices concerning his social 
traditions, his accepted ideas and ideals, and the 
prevailing institutions of his particular period. 
His emotional reaction to these social phenomena 
his given us, and continues to give us, epochs of 
witch-hunting, heresy-hunting, persecution for un- 
orthodox ideas, tyrannous exhibitions of the 
crowd-spirit no less than of the autocrat, mass 
and class mobs, race riots and pogroms, puritan- 
ical obsessions and wholesale inhibitions. An 
understanding of these universal convulsive ex- 
pressions is as necessary to an insight into the 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

mechanism of personality as is a knowledge of the 
elementary facts of biology. 

The two extremes in the gamut of human possi- 
bilities have been analyzed for the purpose of 
demonstrating that, under the cultural veneer, all 
human beings are essentially alike. The duality 
of personality is the unvarying law. 

In the chapter on Genius, it will be seen that the 
world's greatest luminaries have revealed, behind 
their compelling brilliancy, a basically primitive 
human organism, which so often has reflected 
itself in their character and conduct. Not in- 
frequently has the Caveman broken out in all his 
primordial abandon. Everywhere in the realm of 
Genius, he is in evidence. And from these peaks 
of human attainment down to the lowlands of 
halted development and chronic immaturity, there 
is the inevitable contrast in each individual of the 
primitive and the socialized nature. Only in the 
relative proportion of social adaptation is there 
endless variation. 

As the possibility for individual happiness and 
health is bound up irretrievably with the question 
of environment, it will be perceived why social 
factors of necessity have been stressed. Too 
much importance cannot be laid on an understand- 
ing of one's relation to the powerful social forces 
that constitute the dynamics of environment. 

When an individual has grasped the fact of the 
essential duality of his nature — and it is the inten- 
tion that this book, by analyzing and clarifying 



INTRODUCTION xv 

so much of the mechanism of personality, will en- 
able him clearly to visualize this phenomenon — 
he will have acquired the insight requisite to Self- 
understanding. He will understand the psychic 
and physical processes of the machine he is trying 
to run. 

With this key to Self-understanding in his pos- 
session, he will be able to open the doors of Self- 
mastery and Self-expression. This means an un- 
dreamed of freedom from the myriad forms of 
so-called nervous afflictions, with their far-reach- 
ing symptoms of physical disability, and the 
achievement of a new and greater measure of 
health and efficiency. 

"William J. Fielding. 



THE CAVEMAN 
WITHIN US 



THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



CHAPTER I 

THE CAVEMAN AND THE MODERN— OUR DUAL 
NATURE 

This same human nature's a singular thing; 
It sticks to people so strangely long. 

I thought to myself the old Adam, for certain, 
Had for good and all been kicked out of doors ; 
But lo! in two shakes he's atop again. 
Ay ay, my son, we must treat you, I see, 
To cure this pestilent human nature. 

—Ibsen, The Old Man in "Peer Gynt." 

That every individual possesses a well-defined 
dual nature is now a thoroughly established 
scientific fact. There is elaborate physiological 
and psychological proof — in other words, in- 
controvertible biological evidence — to sustain this 
contention. 

You may not like it — or you may not particu- 
larly care. If you object to the allegation that 
you are not entirely (but only partly) the ethical, 
law-abiding James Henry Jones that you are re- 
puted to be, then yours should be the pleasure of 



2 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

disproving the charge without trouble after yon 
have perused the argument. 

If you think you are not sufficiently interested 
or concerned whether you are or not, then there 
may be even stronger reasons why you should 
know. No self-respecting human being should ac- 
cept this charge with equanimity, and to know 
why, may enable you to understand, and to be- 
come acquainted with the Caveman within you — 
the factor that contributes so much to your real, 
all-around personality. 

You are honest, loyal and altruistic — that is, 
on the surface ; perhaps never have been in jail — 
but do you know that this Cave-creature within 
you is at bottom absolutely unethical, anti-social, 
egotistical, primitive, and otherwise destitute of 
all the cherished virtues? 

In this respect, there is no cause for alarm. It 
merely proves you are human; neither more nor 
less. And by getting an insight into the situation, 
you will better be able to adjust yourself to the 
problems of life. It will become a valuable guide 
in pursuing your destiny, as necessary in present- 
day life as is the chart of the navigator on the 
high seas. 

After all, despite his faults, this old troglodyte 
within us can be trained to cooperate and help us 
carry our burdens. It is true he is not intellectual 
or moral, but he is strong and robust. He is vital. 
If we allow him to dominate us, he will submerge 
us into the mire of a vicious or criminal existence. 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE MODERN 3 

If we attempt to suppress him, he will rebel with 
all his primitive might and throw us into the fitful 
arms of physical or mental sickness, thus adding 
another victim to the hosts of neurotics and dis- 
eased. 

However, when reasonably disciplined, he has 
his channels of approach, such as catering to his 
love of amusement and fun, adventure, harmless 
vanities, and many other diversions that conform 
to the social proprieties. 

The problem of making this adjustment is the 
most serious one of every individual's life. It 
decides his fate and possibilities for realizing hap- 
piness, in marriage and out; his capacity for 
achievement in his calling; his faculty to make 
friends and successfully "mix" in the heterogene- 
ous composition of the community. The capacity 
for making this adjustment varies in each person, 
depending in a measure upon his inherent quali- 
ties and even to a larger extent upon his early 
environment, whether helpful and constructive or 
negative and depressive. 

The dual nature of the human personality has 
been sensed by philosophers and others from re- 
mote antiquity. In its various manifestations, it 
is a constant theme in the folklore, legends and 
literature of all periods and all languages. It has 
been a cause of wonder, astonishment and chagrin. 
It has resulted in infinite distress, heart-pangs, 
and often disaster to the more immediate victims 
of its caprices. But it has been taken for granted, 



4 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

as a matter of course, without being understood. 
Anything not understood is a mystery, and the 
natural phenomena of life mantled in mystery 
have been the bugbear of the race in its long, 
struggling ascent. 



The Basis of Witchcraft 

In centuries past, men and women who had 
shown too pronounced evidence of this dual trait 
of personality were said to be ''possessed by 
devils," or "evil spirits.' ' They had been "be- 
witched." Countless thousands have been burned 
at the stake, thrown into medieval prisons or 
otherwise penalized for their indiscretion in har- 
bouring the damned. We still do homage to the 
memory of Old Mother Witch on Hallowe 'en, and 
recount her exploits to our children as they listen 
to the fables of old. 

It is true that the persecuted persons were ex- 
ceptions, forming only a small minority of the 
population ; but the ominous fact remains that al- 
most anyone was a possible victim. No one knew 
but what his turn might come next to answer to 
the charge of witchcraft or some allied crime of 
sorcery. The prevalence of witch-hunting was, of 
course, much greater in some places than others. 
Some idea of the popularity of this form of diver- 
sion may be gained from the fact that within the 
course of a few years six thousand five hundred 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE MODERN 5 

people were executed for witchcraft in the prin- 
cipality of Treves alone. 

And so, better to protect themselves against 
suspicion, men and women spied upon their neigh- 
bors, eagerly watching for any sign that could be 
construed as evidence of a visitation from sinister 
sources. Even within the family circle, the blight 
of this fanaticism was not unknown. 

If, upon occasion, the squint of one's eye did 
not just conform to the ocular conventions (pos- 
sibly "looking daggers"), there was danger of 
having to answer to the charge of possessing the 
"evil eye." 

All of these occurrences denoted a recognition 
of some factor in the personality that was con- 
sidered apart from what was expected of the 
social or ethical human being. The fact that, at 
times, everyone felt certain impulses or urges to 
do the proscribed thing, tended to make most in- 
dividuals compensate for this feeling of inner 
guilt by being the more anxious to find evidence 
of a similar failing in someone else. In this way 
the individual, by accusing another, felt himself 
strengthened, or raised to a higher plane. It took 
his attention and that of the community off his 
own shortcomings by focusing it on another. 

In other words, instead of raising himself to a 
higher level by some creative or socially useful 
work or deed, he attempted to achieve superiority 
(and he actually experienced a genuine feeling of 
superiority) by lowering the prestige of others 



6 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

about him. This tendency did not die with the 
demise of popular belief in witchcraft. It is still 
universal, as I shall later demonstrate in numerous 
instances. 

The old penalties for this misunderstood con- 
duct were quite in accord with the methods used 
for meeting all other problems of an unknown or 
mysterious origin. Every phenomenon of this 
nature was considered either the will of God or 
the work of the Devil. If the former, there was 
the attitude to accept it as inevitable, the only 
hope being to make some reparation or supplica- 
tion to appease the wrath of the Almighty. If the 
work of the Devil, the task was somewhat simpler. 
As the Devil, ever since the unfortunate Garden 
of Eden episode, has been accredited with the 
habit of operating through some animal or human 
agency, it was obviously a matter of laying hands 
on the culprit through whom his Satanic Majesty 
functioned, and prescribing a suitable penalty. 

Certain symptoms which are well known to 
present-day physicians as an indication of hys- 
teria were in the old days regarded as indis- 
putable proof that the victim was a witch. One 
of these characteristic symptoms was the famous 
"devil's claw," a patch of insensitive skin some- 
where upon the body of the alleged witch. This 
sign is frequently met in modern medical practice 
under the more reassuring designation of "hys- 
terical anaesthesia." The establishing of the ex- 
istence of the "devil's claw," in connection with 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE MODERN 7 

other grotesque tests, constituted the procedure 
of the witch trial. 

The early scriptural writings took cognizance 
of witchcraft, as we observe in the command given 
in Exodus (xxii — 18) "Thou shalt not suffer 
.a sorceress to live." Similar threats against 
witches, wizards, etc., frequently occur in Leviti- 
cus and Deuteronomy. 

The most estimable people asserted the exis- 
tence of witchcraft and warned against its prac- 
tice. Says Sir William Blackstone : ' ' To deny the 
possibility, nay, the actual existence of witchcraft 
and sorcery, is at once flatly to contradict the re- 
vealed "Word of God in various passages of the 
Old and New Testaments, and the thing itself is 
a truth to which every nation in the world hath, 
in its turn, borne testimony, either by example 
seemingly well attested, or by prohibitory laws, 
which at least suppose the possibility of a com- 
merce with evil spirits." 

The Church at a very early period formally ad- 
mitted its existence, and fulminated against all 
who practiced it. The fourth canon of the Council 
of Auxerre, in 525, strongly prohibited all resort 
to sorcerers, diviners, augurers, and the like. 

As at the present time, those who refuse to 
follow the crowd are called various names to 
which is attached a popular odium, so in the days 
of witch-hunting, those who tried to discredit this 
feverish pastime were denounced as ' ' Sadducees ' ' 
and atheists. 



THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



Primitive Reasoning 

An apt illustration of the manner in which 
serious problems of an unknown origin were met 
may be observed in the case of plagues and epi- 
demics. These periodic visitations of pestilence, 
which swept off whole sections of the population, 
were usually accepted as an act of divine retribu- 
tion. No connection was seen between filth, or 
lack of sanitation, and disease. Before the dawn, 
and in the twilight, of modern science, every un- 
known scourge or misfortune was attributed to 
God, or His handy antithesis, the Devil. 

To carry this process of primitive, illogical 
"reasoning" from social to individual or psycho- 
logical problems, was but a step. In fact, the 
attitude that made one possible, made the other 
inevitable. 

The orthodox religious teaching that stressed 
the fall of man through the " original sin," and 
the further indictment that every individual is 
"conceived in sin," gave a working basis to the 
theory of mankind's inherent wickedness. So, be- 
ing steeped in iniquity, it was merely a case of 
keeping a sharp lookout for it (in everyone else) 
and exposing the offender whenever possible. 

But while this accepted theory of man's de- 
pravity presupposed the sinfulness to be inherent, 
there was always the tendency to associate it in 
actuality with some extraneous agency — some- 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE MODERN 9 

thing apart from his normal human personality. 
So, as we have seen, the individual, when found 
guilty, was condemned for harbouring within him 
some devil or evil spirit, or quality of witchcraft. 
In substance, his was a dual character ; one hu- 
man, with all the shortcomings, perhaps, that his 
questionable origin assured, but the other posi- 
tively and irretrievably bad, socially intolerable. 
Thus, we can understand the drastic means used 
to eliminate the evil — in a blind effort to protect 
society — even at the expense of destroying what 
may have been tolerably good in the unfortunate 
individual. 

Insanity in Retrospect 

A more notable instance of the old popular ac- 
ceptance of dual personality is afforded in the 
treatment of the insane. For ages, up to nearly 
the middle of the last century, "crazy" people 
were definitely considered to be " possessed" by 
various evil spirits. The insane in many instances 
were beaten unmercifully to "drive out" the evil 
interlopers, and, when unfortunate enough to sur- 
vive, were chained in dungeons and otherwise sub- 
jected to the most cruel and loathsome treatment. 

This conception of insanity, which prevailed 
throughout the long period beginning with the 
times described in the Old Testament and continu- 
ing down through the Middle Ages, has been 
termed ' ' demonological. ' ' Insanity was regarded 



10 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

as the manifestation of some spiritual being who 
either actually inhabited the body of the subject, 
or who played upon him from without. In either 
event, it was supposed to be an extraneous agency 
at work. 

It is interesting to note that among many of the 
groups, if the phenomena manifested were in har- 
mony with the religious views of the time, it was 
considered that the controlling spirit was benign 
in character, and the individual " possessed" was 
revered as an exceptionally holy person. This ex- 
plains many of the hallucinatory visions of the 
Middle Ages when the subjects had discourse with 
Jesus or the Virgin Mary, and therefore were 
canonized as saints or recognized as persons en- 
joying the favour of the Lord. 1 

Among some of the ancients, idiots were thought 
to be particularly blessed by the gods, and in com- 
munion with the heavenly regions. As their ac- 
tions and talk were not properly understood, it 
was supposed they were of a supernatural char- 
acter. It is said that Tycho Brahe, the great 
astronomer, had an idiot as a constant companion 
to whose mutterings he listened with profound re- 
spect, trusting that he might overhear some 

1 " In the records of the ascetics and ecstatics who flourished 
at that period, we find manifestations constantly described, visions 
and trances for example, which are of frequent occurrence in the 
insane patient of today. The current beliefs of the Middle Ages, 
however, regarded such phenomena as the result of intimate com- 
munion with the Deity, and the individuals in whom they occurred 
were correspondingly revered and esteemed." Dr. Bernard Hart — 
The Psychology of Insanity. 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE MODERN 11 

heavenly communication of astronomic impor- 
tance. 

The vast majority of the persons " possessed,' ' 
however, came under the category of the baneful 
type, and were considered to be victims of a ma- 
lignant devil, which conflicted with the prevailing 
ethical code. 

While science has revolutionized these old con- 
ceptions, and we have adopted more rational 
theories and practices in treating the mentally de- 
ranged, we still retain some of the old supersti- 
tious feeling in regard to this class of unfor- 
tunates. It is true that we do not countenance 
wilful, studied cruelty in our treatment of the in- 
sane, but there is a widespread feeling that in 
these chaotic, incoherent minds some foreign, 
sinister force is giving vent to itself. 

As a result of this general sentiment, we still 
publicly and officially retain in regard to the in- 
sane an attitude of morbid revulsion rather than 
of humane understanding. Another aspect of this 
situation is the popular idea of the insane as a 
separate and distinct class of society — that a vast 
gulf separates the sane from the insane. As a 
matter of fact, there are degrees of mental in- 
stability and intellectual and emotional vicissitude 
among those who make up the bulk of the popula- 
tion that fluctuate on an extensive scale, from the 
very heights of rational conduct right down to the 
borderline where they cannot readily be discerned 
from the irresponsible and unbalanced. 



12 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



Emotional Appeal of Religion 

This wide overlapping of mental variations, 
which it is often difficult to define or classify, 
among the "normal," the neurotic and the insane, 
is of profound importance and extremely interest- 
ing to observe ; and it throws a flood of light on 
the psychic makeup of man. It enables us better 
to understand some of the duality of his nature 
and his reactions to his environment. In its 
proper place, we shall give this subject more ade- 
quate consideration. 

Perhaps no field of human activity has allowed 
so much scope for the free functioning of the dual 
personality as religion. In order to appreciate 
the significance of this, it is necessary to take into 
consideration the primitive origin of all the great 
religions, which had their beginnings in a semi- 
Oriental setting, at the period of human history 
when man's attempts at abstract reasoning were 
largely in terms of mythological concepts. 

And the influence of mythology and folklore in 
the themes of religious literature and the drama- 
tization of its principal episodes and characters 
is very pronounced. Linked up with this is the 
great mass of symbolism and mystic ritual which 
is still retained by the orthodox churches, and 
which has so strong an appeal to the emotional, 
as contrasted with the intellectual, side of the per- 
sonality. 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE MODERN 13 

But religion has even a more primitive basis 
than the theology of the Old and New Testaments, 
the Koran, the Talmud, Lao Tse's Tao and other 
sacred writings. Long antedating any written 
word or existing cipher, the primitive savage and 
his long line of descendents worshipped at the 
shrine of Phallus. Realizing his helplessness in a 
hostile world, surrounded by remorseless enemies 
and terrifying natural forces whose secrets were 
not to be revealed until untold centuries later, he 
sought in his crude, groping way for an Ultimate 
Cause. 

The Caveman in the infancy of the race, there- 
fore, sanctified the functions of his body which 
gave him the most pleasure, and which reproduced 
his kind. The generative organs were the obvious 
physical basis of procreation, the only direct 
source that he could identify with the, origin of 
life and the continuity of the race, so he venerated 
that which to him had a tangible connection with 
Creation. He probably thought it the source of 
Creation. 

While Phallicism is now a subject of growing 
scientific interest, little popular study has been 
given to it in the past. Nevertheless, it has left 
its indelible imprint both on the mind of mankind 
and on the symbolism, ritual and dogma of all the 
ancient religions that have survived. 

The initiated student of today sees the spiritual 
legacy of our Phallic-worshipping ancestors in 
some of the finest architecture, ancient and mod- 



14 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

ern, in the world. The Phallus was represented 
in ancient crosses that were raised in Egypt and 
other parts of the world centuries before the 
Christian era. It is symbolized in the pyramids, 
obelisks and monumental shafts, in steeples and 
cupolas, in the conventionalized lotus designs, 
fleur-de-lis and in numerous other forms of orna- 
mentation. The female genitals are symbolized 
in many varieties of decoration and design, in 
talismans, charms and in the architecture of 
churches, cathedrals (as in certain shaped doors, 
windows and apertures) and other imposing 
buildings. 

Thus we have unconsciously carried down a fast 
biological heritage and paid our tribute to the 
Caveman of prehistoric ages. And in so doing 
we have done the bidding of the Caveman con- 
cealed within us today, whose existence is as real 
as was his unveneered prototype of ages and ages 
ago. 

BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Morgan, T. H., A Critique of the Theory of Evolution. 
Princeton University Press, 1916. 

Metchnikoff, E., The Nature of Man, Chicago, 1903. 

Loeb, J., The Mechanistic Conception of Life, Chicago, 
1911. 

Adams, W. H. D., Witch, Warlock and Magician, New 
York, 1889. 

Hart, Bernard, The Psychology of Insanity, Cambridge 
University Press, 1920. 

McDougall, "William, An Introduction to Social Psy- 
chology, Boston, 1915. 



CHAPTEE II 

THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND— OUR PRIMI- 
TIVE PERSONALITY 

Out of the past we have come. Into it we are con- 
stantly returning. Meanwhile, it is of the utmost impor- 
tance to our lives. It contains the roots of all we are. 
... It contains the record or ruins of all the experiments 
that man has made during a quarter or a half million 
years in the art of living in this world. — Cassius J. 
Keysee, Human Worth of Rigorous Thinking. 

A more adequate realization of our primitive 
personality will be gained if we consider for a 
moment our immeasurably far-reaching biological 
past. We must take into consideration the lineage 
we have behind us from primitive man, and for 
aeons before that from prehuman types. There is 
the basic organism which we have inherited, with 
its ingrained impressions, instincts and emotions 
that have been picked up during millions of years 
of struggle with the remorseless forces of nature. 
And over the mechanism of this wild and ancient 
heritage there has been thrown, during the past 
few thousands of years, a slight coat of cultural 
whitewash, which may be called the veneer of 
civilization. 

15 



16 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Popularly (and theologically) speaking, man 
has been in the habit of dating his creation back 
some 6,000 years, and considering the advent of 
his prototype as a finished being. This super- 
natural conception of creation, of course, has been 
so long exploded by science that it seems almost 
trite to mention it, and I only do so to emphasize 
the actual great antiquity of the race, according 
to estimates of the leading authorities. 

Man's Great Antiquity 

Henry Fairfield Osborn says: "The beginning 
of the Age of Man, some 500,000 years ago, 
roughly estimated as the close of the Age of Mam- 
mals, marks in reality but the beginning of the 
close of the Age of Mammals. . . . The ascent of 
man as one of the Primates was parallel with that 
of the families of apes. Man has a long line of 
ancestry of his own, perhaps two million or more 
years in length. He is not descended from any 
known form of ape, either living or fossil." 

Accepting this hypothesis (which is undoubtedly 
the best and most authoritative we have), it is 
impossible for the human imagination to compre- 
hend the real significance of the immense span of 
time — the millions and millions of years — it took 
for the evolution of the simplest monocellular 
structures into and through the metazoa to their 
present day goal in man. 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 17 

Biologists are generally agreed that one-celled 
organisms reached their utmost limits of com- 
plexity millions of years ago; since when they 
have shown many diversities, many adaptations, 
but little, if any, progress. 

Many-celled animals and plants also long ago 
reached the limits of their possible progress in 
almost every line. Multiplication of cells, tissues, 
organs, systems and zooids tremendously in- 
creased the possibilities of specialization within 
the larger units of their organization, but for 
"millions of years there has been little further 
progress in this direction of multiplicity and com- 
plexity. ' ' 

In this connection, Professor Conklin remarks 
that "only about fourteen times in the whole his- 
tory of life upon the earth have new animal phyla 
appeared, and many of these were mere blind 
alleys which led nowhere, not even to many 
species ; there have been no new phyla since fishes 
appeared in the Silurian age, no new classes since 
mammals appeared in the Triassic and birds in 
the Jurassic." 1 

The earliest type of man-like creature so far 
discovered is the erect ape-man, Pithecanthropus 
erectus, the remains of which were found in Trinil, 
Java, by Dubois in 1892. These fossils were found 
in a geological formation which included many ex- 

1 Edwin Grant Conklin, The Direction of Human Evolution, 
Scribner's, 1921. 



18 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

tinct mammals of the late Pliocene or pre-glacial 
period, estimated at 500,000 years ago. 

Even a half million years ago, the human line 
was already distinct from the higher apes, al- 
though much closer than at present. The period 
at which they came together is assumed to be a 
million or a million and a half years earlier. 2 

Skeletal remains have been found which indi- 
cate, in connection with stratigraphical evidences, 

2 ' ' But man is not simply a ' developed ape. ' Apes and men 
have diverged from the same primitive stock — apelike, manlike, 
but not exactly one nor the other. No apes nor monkeys now 
extant could apparently have been ancestors of primitive man. 
None could ever ' develop ' into man. As man changes and diverges, 
race into race, so do they. The influence of effort, the influence 
of surroundings, the influence of the sifting process of natural 
selection, each acts upon them as it acts upon man. The process 
of evolution is not progress, but better adaptation to conditions 
of life. As man becomes fitted for social and civic life, so does 
the ape become fitted for life in the tree-tops. The movement 
of monkeys is toward simianity, not humanity. The movement 
of cat life is toward felinity, that of the dog races toward caninity. 
Each step in evolution upward or downward, whatever it may be, 
carries each species or type farther from the primitive stock. 
These steps are never retraced. For an ape to become a man he 
must go back to the simple characters of the simple common type 
from which both have sprung. These characters are shown in the 
ape baby and in the human embryo in its corresponding stages, 
for ancestral traits lost in the adult are evident in the young. 
This persistence comes through the operation of the great force 
of cell memory which we call heredity. The evidence of biology 
points to the descent of all mammals, of all vertebrates, of all 
animals, of all organic beings, from a common stock. Of all 
the races of animals the anthropoid apes are the nearest to man. 
Their divergence from the same stock must be comparatively 
recent. Man is the nomadic, the apes are the arboreal, branch 
of the same great family." David Starr Jordan — Footnotes to 
Evolution. 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 19 

that in Europe the existing species of man (Homo- 
sapiens) goes back at least 20,000 to 30,000 years. 
These few but impressive biological hypotheses 
are cited chiefly to bring to attention the long 
primitive heritage of the race, which will better 
enable us to comprehend the basically primitive 
nature of the individual. 



Inherent Prehuman Modes of Action 

Man, according to the specific theory of John 
Dewey, and in substance to that of E. L. Thorn- 
dike, is a mosaic of original, ineradicable, and un- 
learned tendencies to action, an equipment of be- 
havior-unit characters. The several paragraphs 
preceding roughly indicate the process whereby 
man acquired this ineradicable mosaic character. 

The best way to understand the dynamic influ- 
ence of these biological traits is to begin with the 
new-born child, and observe its course through 
infancy, childhood, adolescence to mature adult- 
hood. 

The late Carleton Parker remarked that he 
looked on with astonishment, mixed with conven- 
tional moral indignation, when Prof. John B. Wat- 
son forced an hour-old, wailing American infant 
to swing seven minutes by its one-handed grip on 
a lead pencil. A negro baby with a more recent 



20* THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

and virile biological memory swung fourteen min- 
utes. 3 

Indeed, the clinging instinct is one of the most 
potent of the reflex modes of response of the in- 
fant. It is a defensive equipment, having its origin 
in the necessity of the prehuman ape-baby cling- 
ing to the shaggy hair of its mother who ranged 
among the trees, and later developed by its own 
tree ranging. The hands of the young baby never 
remain wide open. The flexor muscles of the 
fingers are always in a state of contraction. They 
attempt to grasp everything they can lay their 
hands on, and if there is nothing within reach for 
them to cling to, they keep their hands closed 
tightly in imitation of the act of holding on. This 
characteristic of the primates is an acquirement 
of the arboreal past. Alfred Eussel Wallace once 
caught a young monkey and as he was carrying 
it home in his arms the little simian fingers hap- 
pened to come in contact with the naturalist's 
whiskers, and held on so tightly that he had great 
difficulty in getting them loose. 

The human baby, as we have seen, has remark- 
able development of the forearm muscles at birth, 
possessing in this respect much greater relative 
strength than the average adult, notwithstanding 
the constant exercise of the arm muscles through- 
out the active period of life. And nothing gives 
the baby so much pleasure as to get its little 
fingers tangled up in somebody's hair. 

'Carleton H. Parker, The Casual Labourer and Other Essays. 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 21 

Contrast the muscular development of the new- 
born infant's arm with that of any other part of 
the body — the legs, for instance. The muscles of 
the body, legs and neck require many months of 
development before they can perform even for 
brief periods the duties eventually dependent upon 
them, whereas the muscles of the infant's arm 
and hand, at birth, will usually enable it to sustain 
the entire weight of its body for a period of from 
a few seconds to several minutes. This is, indeed, 
a remarkable feat that requires some explanation 
— and only the biological heritage of the individ- 
ual, with its survival of primitive instincts, offers 
a satisfactory explanation. 

It has been said that the child is a born savage. 
It is even worse than that. At birth, human be- 
ings are quadrupeds. Their earliest attempts at 
locomotion are on all-fours. The natural position 
of the thighs is at right angles with the general 
position of the body, as in other quadrupeds. Ob- 
serve a young baby lying on its back and free to 
assume a natural position of the limbs. The legs 
do not extend straight out, as in adults. They 
stick straight up, as in a four-legged animal. 



Law of Recapitulation 

Now let us trace the primitive characteristics 
of the individual back through much earlier 
stages. We shall use as our guide the Law of 



22 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Recapitulation, or the Law of Biogenesis, as it is 
sometimes called. The Biogenetic Law means a 
certain uniformity which exists from the begin- 
ning of life, namely: "Every organism in its de- 
velopment repeats the life history of the race to 
which it belongs." For example, every reptile is 
a fish before it is a reptile; every bird is a fish 
before it is a bird; every mammal is a fish before 
it is a mammal. 

There is a time in the embryonic development 
of all higher vertebrates when they have not only 
a fish shape but breathe by gills like fishes and 
have two chambered hearts and the peculiar cir- 
culation of the fish. Whereas fishes have two- 
chambered hearts, frogs have three-chambered 
hearts; reptiles have hearts with three chambers 
and the beginning of a fourth ; and birds and mam- 
mals have complete four-chambered hearts. 

A bird or mammal does not develop a four- 
chambered heart the first thing. The beginning 
of the circulatory system of a bird or mammal is 
a pulsating tube, as in a worm. Later it acquires 
a two-chambered heart, like the fish, then a three- 
chambered heart, like the frog, then the beginning 
of four chambers, like the reptile, and finally the 
complete four-chambered heart of its race. 

The following tabulation shows the chief classes 
of the animal kingdom as they exist on the earth 
today. This classification is arranged roughly in 
the order from the lowest to the highest, the low- 
est being at the bottom: 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 



23 



CLASSES OF ANIMALS 



11. Primates: Man, monkey. 
10. Carnivora: Dog, lion, skunk. 
9. Ungulates: Ox, horse, deer. 
8. Sirenians: Dugong. 
7. Cetaceans: Whale, porpoise. 
6. Chiroptera: Bat. 
5. Insectivora: Mole, hedge- 
5. Mammals. ■< hog. 

4. Rodents: Rat, mouse, bea- 
VIII. Vertebrates «( ver. 

3. Edentates: Sloth, ant-eater. 
2. Marsupials: Kangaroo, opos- 
sum. 
1. Monotremes: Duckbill, ech- 
idna. 
4. Birds: Ostrich, owl, lark. 
3. Reptiles: Snake, lizard, turtle. 
2. Amphibians: Frog, salamander. 
L 1. Fishes: Shark, salmon, lung-fish. 

(4. Arachnids: Spider, tick, king-crab. 
3. Insects: Ant, fly, bug, beetle. 
2. Crustaceans: Crayfish, crab, barnacle. 
1. Myriapods: Centiped, milliped. 
VI. Mo Husks: Clam, oyster, snail, squid. 
V. Worms: Earthworm, leech, trichina. 
IV. Echinoderms: Star-fish, sea-urchin. 
III. Celenterates: Hydra, coral, jelly-fish. 
II. Porifera: Sponge. 
I. Protozoa: Amoeba, eugiena, Paramecium 



Geologists have noted that there are no remains 
of back-boned animals in the lowest rocks. The 
oldest fossil cemeteries of the earth are filled en- 
tirely with invertebrates, because away back in 
that remote period of our planet when these an- 
cient burying grounds were being filled, there were 
no back-boned animals in existence. 

Science teaches us that the first inhabitants of 
this world were those whose names stand at the 
bottom of the foregoing list — the protozoa. Zoa 



24 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

is the Greek word for "animals," and protos 
means "first" — thus Protozoa means the "first 
animals"; therefore the common ancestors of all 
other animals. All other creatures have devel- 
oped directly or indirectly from these primordial 
ancestors of animal life on this globe. 

Every animal goes through a series of changes 
or processes of evolution before arriving at ma- 
turity. Regardless of whether it is a clam, a 
beetle, or a frog, an elephant or a man, it always 
begins as a one-celled animal — or protozoan — a 
microscopic speck. "We all go back to the begin- 
ning of life. 

In the developing embryo of the vertebrate — 
to pass over the lower orders — which begins with 
the protozoan, it will eventually get a series of 
bones extending along the back through which 
runs a nerve-cord with an enlargement at the front 
end called the brain. It will also develop a heart 
of two chambers and the peculiar circulation of 
the fish, and breathe with gills. 

In the case of the frog, it will finally abandon 
its gills as breathing organs, and get lungs, and 
legs and a three-chambered heart. If it is a bird 
or mammal, it will develop a four-chambered 
heart, either feathers, fur or hair, as the case 
may be, and the characteristic form of its species. 

There is, however, always a stage in the em- 
bryonic development of birds and mammals when 
they breathe with gills like a fish and have other 
general characteristics of the fish. Human beings 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 25 

have been born with gill-slits open in the neck. 4 
The human embryo is surrounded by a watery 
substance, the amniotic fluid. The fishes were the 
pioneer vertebrates, and all other vertebrates 
have evolved from them, and so all the higher 
vertebrates as individuals pass through the fish 
stage in fulfilment of the biogenetic law. 

Of course, it is understood that because of the 
rapid prenatal development of the individual — 
which in the case of the human being evolves from 
the microscopic, fertilized ovum to the completely 
formed baby in nine months — the stages are not 
clearly defined nor distinct. The individual in a 
few months passes through changes that have 
taken the race millions of years to undergo. A 
hundred million years may be as good a guess 
as any. The individual development, is, there- 
fore, not a detailed recapitulation of the racial 
development, but an outline or synopsis with the 
various stages largely fused and indistinct. But 
notwithstanding the omissions and modifications, 
the biogenetic law remains as one of the most 
remarkable truths in the whole range of biology. 

4 Man, and all the mammals, still carry the birthmarks of their 
common ancestry from the fish, the amphibian and reptilian 
species. A chicken of three or four days' incubation has four 
gill-slits on the side of its neck. In human embryos of three 
to five weeks' development, these gill-slits appear. All reptiles, 
birds and mammals possess them. They serve no function with 
purely air-breathing creatures, and, except in rare instances, close 
long before hatching or birth. In the early embryos of all higher 
forms of life is found the notachord — the dorsal stiffening axis 
of the lower vertebrates. This disappears as the backbone develops. 



26 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Biologists rely on this law to a great extent in 
tracing the relationships of animals. For instance, 
the members of two different species of animals 
may, as adults, look very much alike and may seem 
to be closely akin. But if it is found that they 
differ widely in their individual development, that 
is, as individuals go through widely different 
series of embryonic changes — they are likely to be 
put into entirely different categories. 

The development of the race from animal an- 
cestry seems to be particularly distressing to the 
religious and philosophic belief of many people. 
There should be no more shock felt over this 
hypothesis of the origin of the race, than over the 
fact that the individual has a germinal origin. 
This latter phenomenon is so self-evident that it 
cannot be questioned. And yet, the belief in a 
supernaturally created human being is on a par 
with the "stork" explanation of the individual's 
birth. 

Mental Recapitulation 

The same parallelism that exists between the 
physical evolution of the individual and the race, 
exists between the mental development of the in- 
dividual and the race. 

In all mammals, including man, the brain at one 
stage of development is like that of a fish. And 
just as the brain of the higher animals, including 
man, has been built up step by step through a 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 27 

process of evolution extending back millions of 
years into the past, so has the mind of man like- 
wise developed step by step through an evolution- 
ary process extending back millions of years into 
the past. 

The new-born baby cannot think. But the con- 
tinuance of its existence is made possible by a few 
powerful instincts, primarily the urge to suck 
(thereby obtaining nourishment) ; the defensive 
tendency to cling (a vestigial desire to adhere to 
the body of its mother) ; and the craving to escape 
the annoying reality of its new world through 
sleep, (symbolizing possibly a return to the uni- 
form warmth and comfort of its prenatal exis- 
tence, where every want was automatically cared 
for and no desire left unfulfilled). The biochem- 
ical memories of the prenatal state are strong in 
adulthood also, and a symbolized return to this 
condition of supreme satisfaction has been univer- 
sally noted, as we shall evidence later. 

Born deaf and blind, the infant soon begins to 
see, hear, taste, and feel more pronouncedly pain 
and satisfaction. At about three weeks, the basic 
emotions begin to manifest themselves. The first 
emotions a child has are those of fear and sur- 
prise. Before we have the power to love or hate 
or comprehend, we are able to be afraid. This 
conforms to the defensive reactions of mankind's 
remote prehuman ancestors, who were protected 
by this prompting to fear and flee from ever-alert 
enemies. 



28 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

At the age of ten weeks, curiosity and pugnacity 
show themselves. It is perhaps natural that the 
tendency to fight should follow so closely the dis- 
position to flee. At twelve weeks, jealousy and 
anger and exhibitions of the play instinct usually 
appear, and the mind begins to perform the most 
elementary acts of mental association, as, for in- 
stance, associating the sight of a bottle with food. 

At fourteen weeks, reason and affection begin 
to dawn, vaguely to be sure. Sympathy and the 
desire to express ideas appear at about the age 
of five months. Pride, resentment and apprecia- 
tion of pleasing objects begin to assert themselves 
at eight months; grief, hate and cruelty at ten 
months ; revenge and tool-using at twelve months ; 
and shame, remorse and deceit at fifteen months. 

There is a striking resemblance between the 
evolution of the child's mind from birth to about 
the age of one or one and one-half years, and the 
evolution of mind in the animal kingdom up to 
the advent of man. 

Beginning with the age of one or one and one- 
half years, the mind of the civilized child is an 
outline, crude but unmistakable, of the prehistoric 
evolution of the human race. The child is a 
savage, with the emotional reactions peculiar to 
savages ; with the conceptions of the world common 
among savages ; and with the desires, pastimes and 
ambitions of the savage. What young boy does not 
envy the life of the American Indian 1 ? The male 
Indian did practically no confining work. The 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 29 

females baked the pottery, wove the blankets, cul- 
tivated the maize, and performed the drudgery 
and routine duties. The stalwart brave hunted, 
fished, smoked his pipe, and occasionally went on 
the warpath. These are all primitive pastimes, 
and all of them still fulfil the role of an emotional 
outlet for the primitive cravings of modern man. 
.Children are dominated by these primitive emo- 
tions; normal adult persons, who have succeeded 
in adapting themselves to their social environ- 
ment, have learned to conform, more or less, to 
certain general requirements of our civilization; 
but within every individual, under this surface 
conformity, there remains intact all the old mech- 
anism of the primitive savage. The manifold 
operations of this mechanism, along its old primal 
paths, will be discussed in detail later. 

Lying, or rather unintentional disregard for the 
truth, and other ethical shortcomings, judged by 
the best cultural standards, are characteristic of 
the young child, as they are of the savage. Even 
at the present day, travelers remark how prone 
the savage is to forgetfulness ; how, after a short 
tension of memory, his mind begins to sway here 
and there from sheer weariness and gives forth 
lies and foolishness. 

Every infant likes to wield a stick or similar 
object, with which it bangs away right and left. 
This is reminiscent of the club-using period. The 
Big Stick was the first weapon — a ready means of 
defense and offense. 



30 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

The youth covets a jackknife like no other toy. 
There are indelible biological memories, resulting 
in an instinctive attraction, connected with the 
knife. For a long, long time in the infancy of the 
race, the knife meant food and life. With it, man 
battled with his enemies and secured his sus- 
tenance. Other primitive weapons were the sling 
and the bow and arrow. Man's fondness for whit- 
tling as a diversion has the same origin as his 
fondness for hunting, fishing, fighting and the 
rivalry of sports. 

The development of childhood is a rapid recapi- 
tulation of the successive emotional stages of 
evolving mankind. It is important for the devel- 
opment of the fullest possibilities of the child that 
this fact should be understood. These emotional 
cravings of childhood should neither be denied 
nor thwarted — but should be directed, and an ap- 
propriate outlet assured for each progressive 
stage of the evolving individual. If the basic emo- 
tions are suppressed or repressed, the mind, un- 
consciously for the most part, will, in adult years, 
seek to return to its cheated childhood in a sym- 
bolical form. The vital significance of this 
proposition will be discussed more fully in a sub- 
sequent chapter. 

Adolescence is perhaps the crucial period in the 
life of the youth. It is the turning point — from 
childhood to adulthood. It involves the large emo- 
tional urges signifying the rounding out of child- 
hood (corresponding to the transition stage from 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 31 

barbarism to civilization in the evolution of the 
race) and the innovation of new physiological 
factors, with their far-reaching psychological re- 
actions. 

It is at this important period that the habits 
formed through childhood are hardened into the 
inflexible mould that is destined to shape well nigh 
irretrievably the individual's future. The many 
influences of environment, so important at all 
times, are vital at this period. This situation led 
the late Professor Lester Ward to call the skilful 
and daring criminal "the genius of the slums.'' 
By this expressive term, which is a sad commen- 
tary on the irrational structure of our social or- 
ganization, it is meant that when native talent or 
genius finds its birthright cheated by the blight 
of the slums, its course too often becomes per- 
verted through the sordid surroundings and lack 
of constructive opportunity. And in order to 
satisfy the craving for excitement and achieve- 
ment, to secure an outlet for the expression of the 
powerful ego urge, it almost inevitably develops 
aJong some anti-social channel — into the adroit 
crook, or master-criminal. 

'Autonomic Nervov w System 

Our primitive personality c*RM hardly be dis- 
cussed without, at least, somc^^^ing reference 
to the autonomic nervous sy> ,:SS , v and the en- 
docrine or ductless glands. ThJ*e are the auto- 



32 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

matic working bases of the animal organism that 
so strongly attract the attention both of the 
modern physiologists and psychologists. 

The biological history which we have briefly 
summarized indicates the way our organism has 
developed, and emphasizes its primitive past. A 
study of the nervous system and ductless glands 
demonstrates the development as it is, and per- 
mits us to look into the operation of our basic 
personality — our primitive present. 

Intelligence, intellect and cultural development 
are possible only with a finely organized, balanced 
nervous system. A crude, unstable nervous sys- 
tem precludes unusual or even ordinary develop- 
ment of these qualities. Dr. Smith Ely Jelliffe 
has said: "Bones, tendons, muscles, intestines, 
hearts, lungs, have been much alike for countless 
centuries, and have modified little in their struc- 
ture, but the nervous system, an active, changing 
master-spirit in evolution, is constantly reaching 
out in its attempt to grasp the infinite." 

But notwithstanding its higher qualities and 
potentialities, the nervous system is inherently 
and inescapably primitive. It is true that it can 
be trained, cultivated or sublimated to an extent 
— sometimes to a . ery great extent — but essen- 
tially and basically it harkens to the memories 
of the millions of .tjars behind it. The call of the 

7 ? 

past is too de^ J, mooted and too real to be over- 
come or ignoi;. . formally or abnormally, it will 
assert itself. K is a wise person who knows the 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 33 

nature of this old troglodyte that can be influenced 
to a measureable extent only by the ethical and 
cultural factors of civilization. 

Both the normal and abnormal manifestations 
of the primitive personality will be covered at 
length in other chapters. For the present, we will 
consider merely some of the normal operations of 
the autonomic nervous system, and the glands 
through which it makes itself felt so effectively. 

The autonomic nervous system is the defensive 
signal service and operating agency of the body 
that permits the organism to exist. It is safe to 
say that the human body as constructed, with all 
its vulnerable spots, surrounded with such hazards 
as prevail in the every-day world, could not exist 
without the elaborate nervous system, or some 
similar arrangement, that has developed with the 
anatomy. 

Every move of the autonomic system (which 
controls the involuntary muscles, the heart beats, 
the respiration, the digestive and excretory or- 
gans, the contraction or enlargement of the pupil 
of the eye, regulates the sweat glands, and per- 
forms manifold other operations) has a defensive 
object — a self or racial preservation motive. Its 
original response for millions of years was limited 
to self-preservation through the defensive medium 
of instant preparation for flight or fight; stimu- 
lating the desire for subsistence and pleasure 
through the appetite ; and assuring race preserva- 
tion through the channels of the reproductive in- 



34 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

stinct (which is also an appetite or urge). Hence 
we have today the vital force of these factors 
which operates either undisguised, as it sometimes 
does to an extent ; or modified and symbolized, as 
it is in many ways, to conform to the changed 
conditions of modern society. 

All the numerous organs and glands of the body 
are regulated by the autonomic nervous system. 
And there is always the definite motive of foster- 
ing agreeable appetites, leading to the upkeep of 
the individual and the continuance of the race; 
or of instigating a means of defense — through 
fright, flight or fight. Now the conditions favor- 
able to these two general categories of action are 
invariably opposed. When we are in a condition 
favorable for the appeasement of the appetite for 
food, we are not prepared for flight or fight. And, 
as it is well known, when we are frightened or 
grieved, we are in no condition to take or digest 
food. 

Therefore, the autonomic nervous system plays 
a dual role: (1) As an agency of defense and of- 
fense for the protection of the individual, through 
the functioning of the sympathetic division; and 
(2), As an agency contributing to the immediate 
comfort and pleasure of the individual, through 
the operation of the vagotonic division (consti- 
tuting the cranial and sacral sections). Thus, 
when we feel disposed to enjoy a good meal, the 
cranial section of the autonomic system causes the 
saliva in the mouth and the gastric juices in the 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 35 

stomach to flow freely. If some danger should 
suddenly impend, the sympathetic division checks 
these digestive activities (our mouth becomes dry, 
and the stomach undergoes a similar change) so 
that we have neither the desire, nor, to an extent, 
the ability to eat. The danger signal has been 
raised by an automatic action within us (which 
is not subject to our conscious control, although 
intelligence enables us sometimes to modify the 
action in a measure). The meaning of this is that 
the paramount urge of self-protection has become 
operative. If it is a false alarm, the effect is no 
less real while it lasts. The efficiency of this 
nervous organization has contributed to the pres- 
ervation of individual life and the perpetuation 
of the species during the millions of years that 
this nervous system has been developing and per- 
fecting itself. 

The opposing activities of the two divisions of 
this nervous organization will be observed in the 
following manifestations : The sympathetic dilates 
the pupil of the eye (a characteristic of fear), 
while the cranial contracts it (signifying content- 
ment and well-being) ; the sympathetic accelerates 
the action of the heart (enabling it to respond to 
greater physical demands, primitively for defen- 
sive struggle), while the cranial slows it down 
(giving it longer periods of rest) ; the sympathetic 
relaxes the lower part of the large intestine (free- 
ing the body of an incumbrance to flight), while 
the sacral contracts it, and so on. 



36 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



The Ductless Glands 

There are certain accessories to the defensive 
nerve mechanism of the body that deserve brief 
mention. Prominent of these are the adrenals 
and other ductless glands, like the thyroid, para- 
thyroid, pineal, thymus and pituitary glands, for 
instance, which produce internal secretions that 
act upon the body directly through the blood. The 
adrenals are small glands lying anterior to each 
kidney. Their secretion, adrenin, when infused 
into the blood causes the pupils to dilate, hairs 
to stand erect, the activities of the alimentary 
canal to be inhibited, blood vessels to be con- 
stricted, and sugar to be liberated from the liver. 
The adrenal glands are therefore very important 
defensive units of the organism, and have a deep 
bearing on the emotions of the individual. In 
other words, they are vital elements of the primi- 
tive personality. 

It was once thought the emotions were psychic 
manifestations exclusively. Now we know that 
they are largely physiological, and always have 
a physical basis. Emotions, attitudes and secre- 
tions ever go together. It is impossible to experi- 
ence one without the other two. A secretion will 
produce an emotion, and an emotion will produce 
an attitude or "state of mind." An attitude will 
produce an appropriate secretion, which in turn 
will result in an emotion. An emotion must have 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 37 

the physiological basis of a secretion or there 
would be no quickening of the pulse, no rising of 
color in the face, no arousing of the physical being 
generally — no thrill ; in substance, no emotion. 

Adrenin also reinforces the sympathetic im- 
pulses in other ways than noted — all lending to the 
protection of the individual. It restores a tired 
or fatigued muscle or organ to its original ability 
after being subjected to activity through a pro- 
longed period. This explains the phenomenon of 
" second wind" which enables the tired athlete to 
continue with even better results, after the first 
feeling of overpowering fatigue. William James 
(The Energies of Man) suggested that in every 
person there are ''reservoirs of power" which are 
not ordinarily called upon, but which are never- 
theless ready to pour forth streams of energy 
whenever the occasion demands it. The functions 
of the body we are discussing give us an inkling 
as to the source of this power. 

Another preservative influence of adrenin on 
the body is its value as a coagulating agency. If 
a person is wounded while in a passion (as in 
fighting), that is, when there is a maximum of 
adrenin and glycogen (sugar) in the blood, the 
latter will coagulate much more rapidly than if 
he is wounded while emotionally composed. 

And the major emotions — fear, rage, pain, the 
pangs of hunger, etc. — are shared alike by man 
and beast. Similar tests under similar conditions 



38 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

will produce similar results in man and the higher 
animals. 

The body in the stress of exertion, pain and 
strong emotional excitement calls upon the liver 
for the supply of glycogen or sugar; this is the 
form in which carbohydrate material is trans- 
ported in the organisms. Starch is the storage 
form. When needed, this reserve supply is 
liberated in the blood in the form of sugar. In 
the bodies of well-fed animals, the liver contains 
an abundance of glycogen or ''animal starch," 
which is potential blood sugar. 

It has been noted that prolonged grief or 
anxiety in a great crisis so increases the sugar 
in the blood that acute, and sometime chronic dia- 
betes results. A medical writer cites the case of 
a German officer whose diabetes and Iron Cross 
for valour both came from a hazardous experience 
in the Franco-Prussian War. 

In repeated experimentation on cats, dogs, rab- 
bits and other animals, copious increases of sugar 
in the blood were noted after the animals had been 
excited or enraged. Urine tests before and after 
the experiment clearly indicated the accuracy of 
the reaction. 

Professor Cannon 5 reports a test wherein four 
of nine medical students, all normally without 
sugar in their urine, had glycosuria after a hard 
examination, and only one of the nine had gly- 

5 Walter B. Cannon, Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and 
Sage. 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 39 

cosuria after an easier examination. A study was 
made on second-year students at a woman's col- 
lege. Of thirty-six who had no sugar in the urine 
on the day before, six, or seventeen per cent., 
eliminated sugar with the urine passed immedi- 
ately after examination. 

Twenty-five members of the Harvard Univer- 
sity football squad were examined immediately 
after the final and most exciting contest one sea- 
son and sugar was found in twelve cases. Five 
of these positive cases were among substitutes not 
called upon to enter the game. Nevertheless, they 
were under intense emotional excitement. The 
only excited spectator of the Harvard victory 
whose urine was examined also had a marked 
glycosuria, which on the following day had dis- 
appeared. 

The pituitary gland, which lies in a bony set- 
ting at the base of the brain, behind the root of 
the nose, governs the growth of the skeleton, 
muscles, ligaments and tendons, influences the 
sexual processes and assists in energy transfor- 
mation, energy expenditure and conversion. It is 
the gland of continued effort. 

The thyroid, located in the neck, astride the 
windpipe, also has a fundamental bearing on the 
growth and development of body and mind. This - 
is demonstrated in the instance of persons suffer- 
ing from subnormal action of the thyroid. If 
severe, the skin becomes dry and rough, peeling 
in sheets. The hair becomes shaggy and coarse, 



40 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

like an animal's; the temperature drops to a sub- 
normal point. All ambition disappears and the 
subject becomes apathetic, indifferent, awkward, 
even approaching some degree of idiocy. 

The remarkable feature about this is, if the vic- 
tim is given thyroxin (the secretion of the thyroid 
gland) he is soon transformed in all his physical 
and mental qualities, and remains so as long as 
the treatment is consistently continued. The skin, 
the hair, the temperature, and the mental proc- 
esses all become normal, or relatively so. 

The other ductless glands, although less spec- 
tacular in their functions, are vitally important, 
but space will not permit discussing them. 

The chief value in citing the foregoing physio- 
logical factors and tests is to illustrate our phys- 
ical kinship with the animal world, and thereby 
emphasize the primitive basis of our emotions, 
which constitute the unconscious or spontaneous 
expression of our personality. As it has been 
stated, we have been in the habit of attributing 
to mental effort many of our actions which are 
purely reflexes of physiological origin. They are 
the defensive mechanism of our primitive per- 
sonality. 

A great many " states of mind" or attitudes are 
due to causes predisposed by our physical consti- 
tution. They are simply reactions of the auto- 
nomic nervous system — which has a longer biolog- 
ical development than the sensori-motor nervous 
system — and over which we have no direct con- 



THE CAVEMAN'S BACKGROUND 41 

trol. As adults, our indirect control over the func- 
tions of the autonomic system is limited to the 
moderate (but in effect, relatively great) extent 
that we are able to influence them by a rational 
outlook on life, which presupposes a rational in- 
sight into our real nature. And the prime object 
of this book is to help in disseminating this knowl- 
edge, so essential to a healthy, well-balanced life. 

BIBLIOGKAPHY 

Osborn, Henry Fairfield, Men of the Old Stone Age, 
New York. 

Osborn, Henry Fairfield, The Origin and Evolution of 
Life, New York. 

Conklin, Edwin Grant, The Direction of Human Evo- 
lution, New York, 1921. 

Watson, John B., Psychology from the Standpoint of 
a Behaviorist, Philadelphia, 1919. 

Jordan, David Starr, Footnotes to Evolution, New York. 

Moore, J. Howard, The Law of Biogenesis, Chicago, 
1914. 

Moore, J. Howard, Savage Survivals, Chicago, 1916. 

Cannon, Walter B., Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, 
Fear and Rage, New York, 1920. 

Crile, G. W., The Origin and Nature of the Emotions, 
Philadelphia, 1915. 

Crile, G. W., Man, an Adaptive Mechanism, New York, 
1916. 

Darwin, Charles, Origin of Species. 

Darwin, Charles, Descent of Man. 

Driesch, H., The Science and Philosophy of the Organ- 
ism, London, 1908. 

Loeb, Jacques, The Organism as a Whole — from a 
Physico-chemical Viewpoint, New York, 1915. 



42 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Boas, Franz, The Mind of Primitive Man, New York, 
1921. 

Lavastine, M. L., The Internal Secretions and the 
Nervous System, New York. 

Morgan, T. H., The Physical Basis of Heredity, Phila- 
delphia. 

Galton, Francis, Natural Inheritance, London, 1889. 

Spencer, Herbert, Principles of Biology, New York, 
1883. 

Berman, Louis, Glands Regulating the Personality, New 
York, 1921. 

Harrow, Benjamin, Glands in Health and Disease, New 
York, 1922. 



CHAPTEE III 

THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER— OUR CULTURAL 
PERSONALITY AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 



The man of prehistoric times lives on, unchanged, in 
our Unconscious. — Sigmund Freud. 



While the cultural side of the personality has 
received more attention than the primitive, which 
we have just reviewed, the popular conception of 
it has been very much romanticized. Indeed, by 
virtually ignoring our early biological background, 
it was impossible to get a true perspective of the 
surface strata of our nature which alone has been 
exposed to social development. The importance 
of mankind's mass intelligence and culture has 
been greatly over-emphasized. 

It is true that much has been accomplished in 
the few thousands of years that are recorded in 
human history. The greater part of human 
progress, however, is due to a more or less 
mechanical acceleration of social forces, fostered 
by the broad economic motive. Progress that is 
influenced by technology and positive sciences 
tends to increase geometrically. 1 The advance in 

1 " It must be admitted that to a considerable extent the progress 
thus procured has been only technical; it has provided more effi- 
cient means for satisfying pre-existent desires rather than modi- 

43 



44 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

civilization has meant, primarily, only improve- 
ment in environment; whereas, neither environ- 
ment nor training seems to have changed per- 
ceptibly the hereditary capabilities of man. Aside 
from this, an honest review of mankind's activi- 
ties, since the dawn of history, suggests a none 
too reassuring picture of a very archaic force 
blindly cutting its way to an indefinite objective 
in the destructive manner of a huge cosmic Jug- 
gernaut. 

The actions of man in his personal and social, 
and national and international, relations are, 
broadly speaking, irrational, paradoxical and 
highly suggestive of the stage of prehistoric 
savagery through which he has passed. This re- 
fers not only to the actual physical combat, 
treachery, cruelty, vindictiveness and other evi- 
dences of a primitive nature, but also to the prev- 
alence of deceit, cunning, lies, bluster, and the 
like, which are so universal : witness any phase of 
our social organization — international diplomacy, 
typical tendencies of newspapers, politics, and 
other paramount modern influences which need no 
further comment. 

Every great cultural achievement or truly social 
advance can be matched by many examples of 

fied the quality of human purposes. There is, for example, no 
modern civilization which is the equal of Greek culture in all 
respects. Science is still too recent to have been absorbed into 
imaginative and emotional disposition. Men move more swiftly 
and surely to the realization of their ends, but their ends too 
largely remain what they were prior to scientific enlightenment." 
— John Dewey. 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 45 

atavistic destructiveness and continuous practices 
antagonistic to the common weal. Man is a para- 
dox because of the primitive emotions he feels and 
the visions he sees. Man, collectively, presents a 
greater paradox because in his group relations he 
more quickly reverts to the emotional status of 
the primitive hunting pack, and sinks to a lower 
biological level than the individual is apt to do. 
And, collectively, institutionally, he brags of his 
culture (or "kultur," depending upon geograph- 
ical boundaries), democracy, philanthropy, and 
other cherished national virtues that are as trans- 
parent as is his individual veneer of civilization. 

The redeeming feature of this has been the few 
luminous lights, here and there, rising in protest 
against the unbridled folly, pointing the way to 
a saner course, and a higher goal. These excep- 
tional people have not been held back by the Cave- 
man within them, chained to one of his primitive 
levels, but have used his vital, motivating energy 
to advance a worthy ideal. 

There is indeed a cultural personality, and man- 
kind has a cultural history. And notwithstand- 
ing the prevailing notion, we of the twentieth cen- 
tury have not a monopoly of its quality. Just as 
the past decade has brought to the surface some 
of the worst phases of human nature, has shown 
us in innumerable cases the Caveman in his wildest 
excesses, so we can look back, century after cen- 
tury, and see evidences — somewhat isolated, per- 
haps — of personal culture, mental vigour, and in- 



46 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

tellectual achievement, that cannot be excelled 
today. A sweeping statement, you may say, but 
let us see. After all, what are the four, five and 
six thousand years of which we have record, in 
comparison with the untold ages during which 
man and his predecessors were evolving! 

Early Culture 

Let us look into the background of our culture, 
and compare the quality of it today with that of 
some hundreds, or a couple of thousands of years 
ago. In quantity, such as it is, there is no com- 
parison, because knowledge (but not intellectual 
capacity) has increased like the proverbial snow- 
ball rolled over a carpet of soft, adhesive snow, 
collecting layer upon layer as long as the process 
is continued. The experiences of past generations 
have been handed down, each succeeding genera- 
tion adding little or much to the wealth of knowl- 
edge that has been bequeathed to it, although 
never approaching the real possibilities that lie 
dormant therein. The potentialities are accumu- 
lating, but their constructive utilization is rela- 
tively subordinated to that of a destructive or 
dubious character. 

As a casual illustration of destructive versus 
constructive tendencies in our social organization 
at present, we might compare the national re- 
sources used for war purposes (i.e., paying debts 
incurred in past wars and making preparation for 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 47 

future wars) with those for education, which is 
conceded to be the basis of our national culture 
and progress. The actual expenditures of the 
United States during the fiscal year 1919-1920, for 
education, research, public health and develop- 
ment, amounted to fifty-nine million dollars, 
while the expenses for the same period, incident 
to war, amounted to 3238 millions. 2 Fifty-five 
times more of the public funds were used in behalf 
of the destructive caprices of the Caveman, and 
in catering to his instincts, than for purposes of 
education and of adding to our cultural possibili- 
ties. 

A diagrammatic illustration might enable us 
better to understand the powerful urge behind 
these atavistic tendencies. That these tendencies 
exist and must be taken into account is a fact that 
can be faced with some degree of optimism. When 
a person becomes aware of why he acts instinc- 
tively in a stereotyped way, in certain situations, 
or reacts in an irrational manner to certain 
stimuli, he will be more apt to modify his actions 
to conform to a higher level of social ethics, as 
he does in. many concrete, practical ways. The 
fanatic who shouts "fire" in a crowded hall is 
dealt with severely, and means are taken to handle 
the situation rationally when a fire does occur 
under similar circumstances. But all over the 
country — and the world — all kinds of alarmists 
are virtually shouting "fire" whenever it serves 

8 See The Next War, by Will Irwin. 



48 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

their own purpose. As it is unquestionably im- 
possible to silence these alarmists without at the 
same time stifling expression of opinion generally, 
a widespread knowledge of some of the funda- 
mentals of the psychology of behavior would ac- 
complish a beneficial result. To recur to the con- 
crete illustration we have used, extensive pub- 
licity and popular propaganda have taught great 
masses of people something of their psychology 
in relation to fire in a crowded building. And this 
knowledge, plus the precautions of exits, maybe 
the presence of a fireman and a few practical rules 
of conduct, have prevented many panics. How- 
ever, all these precautions, without the primary 
psychological insight would hardly avert a panic 
in a crisis. 

The distressing factor is that the anti-social, 
destructive proclivities are so often idealized, 
glorified and fostered, instead of immunizing our- 
selves against them by a scientific understanding 
of their nature. 

In the previous chapter, I have referred to the 
great biological heritage of man. The physical 
and the psychic are so completely interrelated 
that both are affected by any emotional stimulus. 
If the major emotions — fear, rage, hate, love, etc. 
— are recognized as psychic phenomena, they have 
a physical basis in the functions of the autonomic 
nervous system and the secretions of the endocrine 
glands. Every alarmist consciously or uncon- 
sciously panders to the more primitive of these 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 



49 



emotions (fear, rage, hate), and we can look 
around at the world for some indication of the 
result. The " ghosts of the past" too often return 
to mock our vaunted civilization. They return so 
readily because they are only under the skin — 
always with us, ready to stalk across our path. 

The diagrammatic suggestion on this page is, of 
course, purely an arbitrary arrangement, designed 

The Heritage op the Past that Influences Our Present 




To 
7 Years 



7 to 
14 Years 



14 Years 
and on 



Recapitulation op Individual Life 



50 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

merely to convey a general idea, as the develop- 
ment of the individual represents a rapid fusing 
and much overlapping of the evolutionary stages 
in the recapitulation sense. This diagram, while 
by no means showing the true proportions, tends 
to emphasize the tremendous influence of the past 
over the present, and a great deal of this past we 
live over today, in a more or less distorted, sym- 
bolical form. It also impresses upon us that while 
the higher social and cultural development of man 
^s relatively new, it is nevertheless a fact that can 
be made the most of only by a working knowledge 
of the total situation. 

Intellectual Capacity and Knowledge 

While obviously knowledge is becoming more 
widespread, let us consider the comparative in- 
tellectual capacity of man during the past few 
thousands of years. Are there any minds of today 
that excel those of Socrates, Aristides, Aristotle 
and some of their contemporaries? The evidence 
seems to prove that there has been no perceptible 
improvement, either physically or in intellectual 
capacity, in the human race within historic times. 
The physical beauty of the long-forgotten individ- 
uals who posed for the ancient Grecian and 
Roman statuary is the marvel of all art lovers. 
And these early models, immortalized in stone 
and bronze, have become accepted as standards of 
human anatomical perfection, no less than the 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 51 

sculpturing has as examples of classic artistic 
production. 

And as far as the intellectual side of it goes, 
the foremost authorities on anthropology, hered- 
ity and eugenics maintain that no modern race 
of men is the intellectual equal of the ancient 
Greek race. 

Sir Francis Galton, the father of eugenics, has 
called our attention to the fact that in the century 
between 530 and 430 B.C., in the small country of 
Attica, there were produced fourteen illustrious 
men, one for every 4300 of the free-born, adult 
male population. In the two centuries from 500 
to 300 b.c, this small country, about the same size 
and with a total population equal to that of the 
state of Rhode Island, but with less than twenty 
per cent, as many free persons, produced over 
two dozen illustrious men, whose achievements 
are enduring in time. The philosophers and men 
of science included Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, 
Demetrius and Theophrastus ; orators, Demos- 
thenes, Lysias, JEschines and Isocrates; states- 
men and commanders, Aristides, Themistocles, 
Pericles, Cimon, Phocion and Miltiades ; poets and 
dramatists, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, 
and iEschylus; artists and architects, Phidias, 
Polygnotus, Ictinus and Praxiteles; historians 
Xenophon and Thucydides. 

Galton concludes that the average ability of the 
Athenian race of that period was, on the lowest 
estimate, as much greater than that of the Anglo- 



52 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Saxon race of the present date as the latter is 
above that of the African negro. It is his opinion 
that if the Athenians had maintained their ex- 
cellence and had multiplied and spread over large 
countries, displacing inferior populations (which 
they might well have done, for they were naturally 
very prolific), ''they would assuredly have accom- 
plished results advantageous to human civiliza- 
tion to a degree that transcends our powers of 
imagination." He attributes the decline of this 
marvelously developed race to a disintegrating 
state of social morality, which led to promiscuous 
interbreeding with inferior peoples. 

It is interesting in this connection to consider 
Bateson's suggestion that the high intellectual 
qualities of the ancient Greeks were due to the 
inbreeding of homogeneous and very superior 
phratries and gentes, but that when marriage with 
aliens was sanctioned, the population gradually 
mongrelized and its intellectual superiority de- 
clined. Vernon Kellogg favors inbreeding as the 
surest way of preserving the good qualities of a 
race. William McDougall is more emphatic in 
advocating this policy. 

Conklin maintains that even in the most distant 
future there may never appear greater geniuses 
than Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, New- 
ton, Darwin, and that "the intellectual evolution 
of the individual has virtually come to an end, 
but the intellectual evolution of groups of individ- 
uals is only at its beginning. " In short, intel- 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 53 

lectual evolution will become more socialized, the 
same as industrial evolution (from the productive 
end), and all other processes to which human be- 
ings have seriously applied themselves. 

This intellectual evolution will be accomplished, 
Professor Conklin believes, through increased 
specialization and cooperation of many individ- 
uals. The trend toward specialization is due to 
the limitation of the brain as a storehouse, which, 
with knowledge continually increasing and intel- 
lectual capacity remaining stationary, permits 
each individual mind to take in only a small por- 
tion of the sum of human knowledge. Therefore, 
in this age, intellectual specialization is absolutely 
necessary. 

Heredity and Environment 

There is a great deal of speculation regarding 
the relative influence of heredity and environment. 
Both are positive forces, the full power of which 
we can hardly weigh with any degree of accuracy, 
because of varying circumstances and many un- 
known or hidden factors involved in each case that 
may be analyzed. 

Darwin held the opinion, as the result of a life- 
time of critical observation, that men differ less 
in capacity than in zeal and determination to 
utilize the powers they have. Zeal, in a sense, 
may be considered the successful application of 
the energetic constitution, the vital nerve force, 



54 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

or the libido of the Freudians. We know that vast 
quantities of this vital force are squandered or di- 
rected along socially non-productive channels, so 
that even in the case of much intellectual capacity, 
the results frequently are not satisfactory. The 
significance of this phase of the question, and the 
possibilities of prescribing a remedy, will be 
treated later on. 

It is generally agreed that no constant distinc- 
tion can be recognized between the brain of a 
philosopher and that of many an unlearned 
person. Neither size nor weight of brain, nor 
complexity of convolutions, bears any constant 
relation to ignorance or intelligence, although it 
is possible that the specialized microscopist may 
find differences between the brain of the trained 
thinker and the untrained individual. 

H. H. Goddard (Psychology of the Normal and 
Subnormal, page 63) states: "Even the external 
appearance of the brain itself shows no condition 
characteristic of feeble-mindedness. The number 
of convolutions is not markedly different from 
the normal. Indeed, of a hundred brains, half of 
which would be the brains of defectives, ranging 
from idiocy up, it is probable that no neurologist, 
however familiar with brain convolutions, would 
be able to group the brains accurately, not even 
those of the idiots." 

In order to appreciate the complexity of the 
brain, we might try to grasp that the child at 
birth has ten billion (10,000,000,000) brain cells 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 55 

or neurons, which number is never increased 
throughout the life of the individual. The growth 
and increase is in size, not in number. And the 
total growth from birth to physical maturity rep- 
resents an increase of but four-fold in weight. 
The brain grows from an average weight of about 
360 grams (twelve ounces) at birth to about 1400 
grams (three pounds), at the age of twenty. This 
relatively small increase may better be realized 
when we compare it with the growth of the entire 
body, which represents an increase in weight of 
twenty-three fold — from about six or seven pounds 
at birth to 140 to 160 pounds at twenty. The new- 
born baby is, indeed, top-heavy, and the resultant 
size of his cranium tends to make the process of 
birth the extreme ordeal it is for the modern 
mother, particularly of the white race. 

A small man with the same size head as a big 
man will, other things being equal, display more 
energy. Napoleon's head alwa} r s appeared to the 
Dutchesse d'Abrantes to be "too large for his 
body." Mozart's head was also disproportion- 
ately large. Both of these men were physically 
small, and were noted for the abundance of nerve- 
energy they displayed. In weight of brain, consid- 
erable differences have existed among men of 
acknowledged power. Whereas the average weight 
of the male brain is about 48 ounces, Cuvier's 
weighed 64 ounces; Abercrombie 's and Schiller's 
64; De Morgan and Gauss, the mathematicians', 
52% and 52 respectively. But Grote, the historian, 



56 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

had a brain only three-quarters of an ounce above 
the average, while the brains of Tiedemann, the 
anatomist, and Hausmann, the mineralogist, fell 
five and six ounces below it. The heaviest known 
human brain belonged to a Sussex (England) 
bricklayer, who died of tuberculosis in University 
College Hospital in 1849. It exceeded 67 ounces, 
and was well proportioned. In physique, its 
owner was not greatly above the average, being 
five feet nine inches in height and of robust frame. 
The man could not read or write (which was not 
unusual for a workingman of his time), though 
he was said to have had a good memory and was 
fond of politics. 3 

Havelock Ellis here brings to notice an in- 
genious psychological consideration when he 
shows that width of hips is a female character- 
istic commonly admired by men. Inasmuch as a 
wide pelvis is one which can accommodate and 
safely give birth to a large faetal head, this sug- 
gests a practical bearing on the eugenics issue. 

8 The following comparisons are of interest in the study of 
brains: The figures of Thurnam (On the Weight of the Human 
Brain) establish a difference between the brains of Europeans 
and African negroes of about five ounces. A Bushwoman'a 
brain, examined by Marshall (Proceedings of the Boyal Society) 
was found to be remarkably deficient in its convolutions, especially 
in the occipital, the middle and lower frontal and the temporal 
regions — a formation which would clearly conduce to poverty of 
ideas. The human brain of the lowest order, in fact, scales down 
toward that of the ape. Le Bon estimates the cranial capacity 
of the gorilla at 600 cubic centimetres, the lowest African or 
Australian black's at 1200, and the Modern European's at from 
1800 to 1900. From this it would appear that some human races 
are mentally as near to the gorilla as to the highest civilized types. 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 57 

Large heads mean, in general, large brains and 
it would be unfortunate for the white race if men 
admired hips as narrow as those, for instance, 
of the negress, whose pelvis could not find room 
for the average head of a pure white baby, and 
who suffers terribly in many cases where the 
father is white, especially if the child is a boy. 

Although the brains of Cuvier, Gauss and 
Beethoven were unusually large, they have been 
matched in size and apparent complexity by the 
brains of unknown and unlearned persons, one 
example of which we have just cited. These 
persons may be said to have been richly endowed 
by nature but have never learned to use their 
talents. Of course, it is impossible to say whether 
these individuals, naturally gifted, failed to rise 
(to some approximation of their possibilities be- 
cause of scant opportunities, insurmountable eco- 
nomic obstacles, or failure to secure a satisfactory 
adjustment of the vital urge along socially con- 
structive lines. 

It has been well said that heredity gives not 
actualities, but only potentialities. It depends 
upon circumstances whether they shall become 
actualities. The circumstances are environment 
in all its multifarious ramifications. 

In Heredity and Environment, Conklin states : 
"A more dreadful though less universal tragedy 
is the loss of real personalities who have native 
endowments of genius and leadership but who 
for lack of proper environmental stimuli have re- 



58 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

mained undeveloped and unknown; the 'mute, in- 
glorious Miltons' of the world . . . the Newtons, 
Darwins, Pasteurs who were ready formed by 
nature but who never discovered themselves. One 
shudders to think how narrowly Newton escaped 
being an unknown farmer, or Faraday an obscure 
bookbinder, or Pasteur a provincial tanner. In 
the history of the world there must have been 
many men of equal native endowments who 
missed the slender chance which came to these.' ' 

This quotation from Professor Conklin is a just 
recognition of the cultural possibility of man, and 
of its universality, even if it appears only in spots 
in its higher form. 

It has become an axiom that every great crisis 
brings forth a great leader — usually one unknown 
or unrecognized before the circumstances demon- 
strated his particular fitness and qualifications. 
This, on the one hand, has been the cause of be- 
lieving in the old fallacy that great minds appear 
only at long intervals, because great crises usually 
appear only at long intervals. On the other hand, 
it furnishes food for the thought that the intel- 
lectual material is always with us, already formed, 
and requiring only the powerful stimulus of great 
necessity to develop its potentialities and force 
universal recognition of the fact. 

What a loss to the sum of cultural development 
and what a retardation of the sciences there was 
wrought by the blighting suppression of the 
Middle Ages ! A classic instance that has recently 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 59 

received some renewed attention will serve the 
two-fold purpose of showing how a monumental 
genius of the thirteenth century was cruelly ham- 
pered and his endeavors largely frustrated; and 
what must have been the effect generally of this 
policy of blanket suppression of independent 
thought and research. 

Marvellously endowed with intelligence and 
creative energy, Roger Bacon, the thirteenth cen- 
tury Franciscan friar — born in Somersetshire in 
1214 — is believed to have anticipated by centuries 
the principles of a number of sciences. Bacon is 
considered by the leading medievalists to have 
been several hundred years ahead of his time 
in solving some of the problems of modern 
science. This irrepressible student, having been 
persecuted, condemned and imprisoned as a 
necromancer, and forbidden for twenty years to 
write for publication, was forced to put the more 
revolutionary results of his research and experi- 
mentation into a secret code. 4 The key to these 
discoveries, inventions and hypotheses was un- 
ravelled by Dr. William Romaine Newbold of the 

* ' ' All great things have been won by men who would not 
conform. Where would astronomy be now if the great ones had 
not risked excommunication? Where would the Darwinian theory 
be if its author had conformed with the views of the majority? 
Where would modern surgery stand but for Lister's disregard of 
the sneers of his opponents? . . . The history of science, and in- 
deed of human thought, proves that men are not grateful to the 
discoverer of such truths as tend to disturb existing notions. The 
instinctive tendency of mankind is to resent any disturbance of 
its placid hold of traditional beliefs, and to muzzle or suppress 
the disturber." — Bernard Hollander. 



60 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

University of Pennsylvania, who has succeeded 
in transcribing a portion of the old vellum manu- 
script. 

Dr. Newbold, who is averse to making any 
sensational statements regarding Bacon's discov- 
eries, informed me that the documents "prove 
•that he had a telescope and microscope and saw 
many things never seen before and not seen again 
for ages." It is known that the writings of Bacon 
influenced Columbus (over two hundred 3^ears 
later) in concluding that the earth is round, and 
he therefore may be said to have been responsible 
for the discovery of America in 1492. Bacon was 
the first of the medieval thinkers to grasp the 
idea of the importance of experiment, and the 
main object for which he fought was the emanci- 
pation of scientific research from the trammels of 
authority. 

Here is another example of the unequal contest 
between the spirit of the Caveman, as exemplified 
in the dominating powers of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, and an isolated individual of rare intellec- 
tual capacity. His genius could only function 
surreptitiously, restricted as it was by the 
strait-jacket conventions of his time. And this 
Caveman spirit is still with us today in a degree 
scarcely less vindictive — but is directed against 
the social, political and industrial non-conformists 
of our time — as will be evidenced in subsequent 
chapters. 

Family histories have been cited to prove the 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 61 

contention that heredity is a prime factor in pro- 
ducing high intellectual capacity. Perhaps the 
most interesting case of this kind that has been 
instanced is the family which produced Charles 
Darwin, the discoverer of a fundamental principle 
of biology. His grandfather was Erasmus Dar- 
win, physician, poet and philosopher, and inde- 
pendent expounder of the doctrine of organic evo- 
lution. Darwin's father was an eminent physi- 
cian, described by his son as "the wisest man I 
ever knew." The maternal grandfather of Dar- 
win was Josiah Wedgwood, the famous founder 
of the pottery works. His first cousin was 
Francis Galton, the formulator of the science of 
eugenics, whose contributions, both direct and by 
way of stimulating thought among others, are of 
inestimable benefit to the race. Charles Darwin 
has five living sons, each a man of distinction, 
including Francis Darwin and Sir George Darwin, 
both original thinkers who have high achieve- 
ments to their credit in the realms of science. It 
would be difficult to attribute this sequence of bril- 
liancy to pure chance, or to the influence of en- 
vironment alone, although environmental condi- 
tions undoubtedly were factors in the full 
development of the individuals cited. 

As the basis of the cultural side of our per- 
sonality is essentially the development of our 
rational qualities, as contrasted with the more or 
less indiscriminate expression of the emotions, 
which constitute the primitive side of our nature, 



62 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

we must look for our higher development along 
the lines of rigorous rational thought. In this 
connection, Count Alfred Korzybski 5 (Manhood 
of Humanity), el Polish engineer and mathe- 
matical philosopher, has formulated a remarkable 
hypothesis of the role of mankind in the realm 
of nature. If time vindicates the contentions of 
this painstaking observer and logician, who has 
applied the exact science and rigid logic of mathe- 
matics to the life-expressing forces of nature, he 
will have rendered a contribution of inestimable 
value to human knowledge. 

It should be emphasized that the fullest develop- 
ment of the cultural possibilities of man does not 
eliminate the primitive side of his nature — the 
Caveman within. It rather coordinates into a 
harmonious working organism forces which gen- 
erate friction, with all its disastrous results, 
when they are permitted to work at cross pur- 
poses; that is, when they are not understood, or 
are suffered to be ignored. 

The rational method is to develop the higher 
cultural qualities that are distinctive of man and 
responsible for his progress, and that have made 
him the adaptable master of his environment (but 
not yet of himself), and at the same time to give 
due recognition to the primitive desires in a 
socially acceptable way — to enumerate a few: 
through athletics and sportsmanlike contests; 
music, literature and art ; diversions that offer an 

B E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1921. 



THE CAVEMAN'S VENEER 63 

emotional outlet that is not asocial in its results ; 
and, perhaps, most important of all, in a healthy 
sex life, which can best be achieved through 
rational sex knowledge and the monogamic rela- 
tionship. If some such expression is not given 
to the innate forces that are surging up from the 
jungle of the past, and that have their roots 
firmly intrenched within us — that are literally the 
fundamental part of our being — then they will as- 
sert themselves no less, but in abnormal and 
pathological ways. They will not be denied. 

The late Professor Shaler of Harvard Uni- 
versity has summarized this lack of coordination 
in the following words, which are quoted from 
his book, The Neighbor: "It is hardly too much 
to say that all the important errors of conduct, 
all the burdens of men or of societies are caused 
by the inadequacies in the association of the 
primal animal emotions with those mental powers 
which have been so rapidly developing (compara- 
tively speaking) in mankind." 

BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Galton, Francis, Inquiries Into Human Faculty, New 
York, 1883. 

Thomson, J. A., Heredity, New York. 

Morgan, Sturtevant, Muller and Bridges, The Me- 
chanism of Mendelian Heredity, New York, 1915. 

Saleeby, C. W., Parenthood and Race Culture, New 
York, 1916. 

Robinson, James H., An Outline of the History of the 
Western European Mind, New York, 1919. 



64 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Ellis, Havelock, The Problem of Race Regeneration^ 
New York, 1911. 

Goddard, H. H., Psychology of the Normal and Sub- 
normal, New York, 1919. 

Bateson, W., Problems in Genetics, Yale University 
Press, 1913. 

Kellicott, W. E., The Social Direction of Human Evo- 
lution, New York, 1911. 

Loeb, J., Comparative Physiology of the Brain and Com- 
parative Psychology, New York, 1900. 

Rignano, E., The Inheritance of Acquired Characters, 
Chicago, 1911. 

Koezybski, Alfred, Manhood of Humanity, New York, 
1921. 

Irwin, Will, The Next War, New York, 1921. 

Conklin, E. G., Heredity and Environment, Princeton 
University Press, 1915. 



CHAPTEE IV 

THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED— REVELING IN 
DREAMS 

Tell me for a time your dreams, and I will tell you 
what you are within. — E. E. Pfaff. 

A number of typical forms of lapses of the cul- 
tural personality, and the ascendency of the 
primitive, individually and en masse, have been 
alluded to, and their significance will be treated 
more thoroughly in other chapters. When the 
primitive personality asserts itself too pronounc- 
edly in daily life, or reverts too far from the con- 
ventional level of civilized standards, and when 
these transgressions of the individual are of a 
nature that is socially objectionable, he is con- 
sidered, according to their degree, irrational, un- 
balanced, or insane. 

Now, everyone at times exhibits tendencies, if 
only momentarily, that are irrational, or lacking 
in balance, and sudden attacks of insanity are not 
rare. And, as I shall later demonstrate, the great 
majority of people seldom are rational, but rather, 
through habit, custom and tradition, maintain for 
the most part a standard of behavior that is 
recognized as socially acceptable. This standard, 

65 



66 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

although slowly changing, is arbitrary, having 
evolved through ages of growing human ex- 
periences, and is riddled with the shot of trial 
and error. Nevertheless, it is so rigid that the 
rationalist who attempts, with any degree of con- 
sistency, to bend it in conformity with his ideas, 
is doomed to earn the derision of the multitude, 
although in the end some of his suggestions may 
be adopted. 

While the Caveman is constantly bobbing up 
and down, there are times, even in the most ra- 
tional and most cultured, when he rises to the 
ascendency, when he stalks forth unmasked and 
frequently with powerful effect. 

We have reviewed his great past, his vast bio- 
logical background, and his vital character which 
demands expression. This expression, in its 
primitive form, is always ego-centric, and usually 
socially objectionable. Whatever culture, ration- 
ality and social traits we have developed, are 
bonds that help to subjugate and subordinate him 
as long as we are conscious and our will power 
functions. 

However, when the bars of consciousness or will 
are let down, regardless of our culture or ration- 
ality, the Caveman asserts himself. This is par- 
ticularly observable in the instance of intoxica- 
tion, when the nectar of Bacchus draws aside the 
restraining influence of the cultural veneer (the 
mask of civilization, as it were), and the intoxi- 
cated person may revert to almost any degree of 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED G7 

savagery or even bestiality. In many cases, on 
account of a less emotional temperament, the 
regression is simply to an early stage of child- 
hood. The "laughing drunk," and also the "cry- 
ing drunk," are not uncommon phenomena — or 
were not before the era of Volstead. Drinking a 
slight intoxicant — that is, a drink or so of some 
mild alcoholic beverage, when the individual still 
retains his decorum — results in a slighter release 
of the psychic tension, with its well-known ex- 
hilarating effect. Even in this case, it is a subtle 
relief from the rigid requirements of the indi- 
vidual's cultural personality. Often the greater 
the cultural development, if it involves undue re- 
pression, the more pronounced are the reactions 
when the repression is removed. 

Two thousand five hundred years ago, the Greek 
philosopher Heraclitus said: "For those who 
are awake, only one universal world exists. Dur- 
ing sleep every one returns to his own." We 
surrender the field of psychic activity to the Cave- 
man when we lapse into sleep. When the tension 
of consciousness is released, another being (or, 
more accurately, another side of our personality 
— the primitive one) comes to the fore. He may 
act in any way indicative of his great age. He 
may manifest the characteristics of the man of a 
few thousands of years back, or of many, many 
thousands, and perhaps add thereto some of his 
tendencies of the present. But these tendencies 
of the present are usually his crass desires. One 



68 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

thing you can depend upon, he is always funda- 
mentally primitive, irrational, inconsistent, self- 
centered, ego-centric, anti-social. 1 

The long systematized repression on the part of 
lOur cultural personality has become an influencing 
factor even in our sleep. In that case, the Cave- 
man disguises some of his most objectionable be- 
havior and disports himself in sufficient symbol- 
ism to avoid offending the consciousness of his 
host, which seems never to be completely relaxed. 
On questions that are not connected with a power- 
ful taboo, he will maintain the same supreme in- 
difference to logic, reason and rational discrimi- 
nation that characterizes him in individuals less 
adept in censoring his grosser qualities. 



Age of Dream Interest 

People always have been interested in dreams 
as far back as human thought is recorded. It is 
no exaggeration to say that dreams have pro- 
foundly influenced the lives of individuals and the 
destinies of nations. Back in the more primitive 
days of man, dreams exerted a tremendous in- 
fluence over his conduct and behavior. The 

1 ' ' When we lose consciousness, either in sleep, in delirium, or 
under the influence of anaesthetics, our minds are not blank, but 
are working rapidly. A person talking in his sleep will give 
verbal expression to the most vital wishes, which would shock his 
waking mind. They find utterance, but do not enter his own 
consciousness. If they do, they are always expressed in symbolic 
form." — Elida Evans, The Problem of the Nervous Child, Dodd, 
Mead & Co., 1920. 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 69 

elaborate conceptions of mythology, folklore and 
legendary are now conceded to be the day-dreams 
of young humanity. They were the dreams of 
individuals projected upon the nation and in time 
became a part of the racial culture of their period. 

Many of the prominent features and allegories 
of the great religions of to-day have identically 
the same characteristics. They, too, were con- 
ceived back in the twilight of civilization, when 
mankind associated his dreams either with divine 
or diabolic inspiration, and if they appeared to 
be in the former category, the dreamer was con- 
sidered appointed as a chosen oracle. All the re- 
vealed religions have this common genesis, and 
their themes are woven around some central char- 
acter who personifies the power and prerogatives 
of the mythological Gods. 

Innumerable books have been written on the 
subject, and superstitions, ideas and theories 
formulated without number concerning dream 
phenomena. Notwithstanding this vast field that 
has been so long open for exploration, study and 
research, it is only within comparatively recent 
years that any real substantial progress has been 
made in arriving at a true understanding of the 
nature of dreams and their manifestations. 

The reason for this is the same as may be given 
for the slow progress in all fields of scientific 
endeavor. While dreams generally have been 
associated with the fantastic, the unreal, the su- 
pernormal, when, indeed, not with the super- 



70 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

natural, they are now nevertheless connected with 
a definite branch of science, and consequently, 
during recent years, great strides have been made 
in understanding them. 

Dream phenomena now have a well established 
position in the realms of psychology and it is in 
this field that their study has been placed on a 
scientific basis. As a matter of fact, a real under- 
standing of psychology requires an understanding 
of dreams, their language and their significance. 
This is a wide departure from their former asso- 
ciation with the supernatural, as manifestations 
of the mystic soul element, some detached spirit 
from within or without, or any one of a hundred 
other mysterious roles that were attributed to 
them. But this again is merely in line with all 
discoveries of natural forces. An understanding 
of their nature removes them from the sphere of 
the supernatural to the natural. 

We are constantly impressed with the fact that 
the ancients, and many people even down to re- 
cent times, considered dreams, not a product of 
the dreamer's own mind, but a divine inspiration 
— in other words, an extraneous agency working 
through the individual. The strength of this be- 
lief, and its widespread acceptance, could only 
find a basis because of the fundamental duality 
of our nature. One side of our nature functions 
one way during our waking hours, barring the 
occasional lapses that are less conspicuous, and 
the other side manifests itself in strange, weird, 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 71 

often unfathomable ways during the period of 
sleep. This naturally led the dreamer of ancient 
times, who could not reconcile his dreams with 
his waking thoughts, to attribute the dreams to 
a divine, or sometimes diabolic, source. 

While Aristotle was the first thinker known to 
have disputed this contention — and his theories 
regarding dreams were modifications of the old 
beliefs rather than purely rational conceptions — 
the popular belief in the supernatural origin of 
dreams long survived this Greek sage. 

Some of the foremost philosophers, poets and 
dramatists of modern and near-modern times 
have shown an excellent working knowledge of 
dream phenomena, arriving at many of the same 
conclusions as the scientific observer of today, 
without apparently employing any definite sys- 
tem or science. Nietzsche, in particular, has given 
us many salient bits of wisdom concerning the 
nature of dreams. One of his most profound 
observations, it seems to me, is summed up in the 
following words: "In our sleep and in our 
dreams we pass through the whole thought of 
earlier humanity. I mean, in the same way that 
man reasons in his dreams, he reasoned when in 
the waking state many thousands of years. The 
first causa which occurred to his mind in reference 
to anything that needed explanation, satisfied him, 
and passed for truth. In the dream this atavistic 
relic of humanity manifests its existence within 
us, for it is the foundation upon which the higher 



72 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

rational faculty developed. The dream carries us 
back into earlier states of human culture, and 
affords us a means of understanding them bet- 
ter" — (Human, All too Human). 

Shakespeare frequently used reference to 
dreams to make telling points, or to illustrate the 
psychic bent in his characters. The following bit 
of dialogue, only one of several instances from 
Hamlet alone, offers an interesting study of two 
contrasting types: 

Hamlet: — God, I could be bounded in a nut- 
shell and count myself a king of infinite 
space, were it not that I have bad dreams. 

Guildenstern: — Which dreams indeed are am- 
bition; for the very substance of the am- 
bitious is merely the shadow of a dream. 

In Hamlet, the genius of Shakespeare has given 
us an illuminating study of a neurotic type, with 
an outstanding, unconscious mother-fixation, or 
CEdipus complex, which he consciously tried to 
compensate for by denouncing his mother for her 
folly. The psychic conflict which this involved 
must assuredly have produced distressing dreams. 

The practical Guildenstern recognized the self- 
centered, egotistic nature of the dream, which in 
normal life, as well as the abnormal, is bound up 
irretrievably with the ambitions. The dream ex- 
presses more than any other psychic operation 
the potency of the desires — and desires are ambi- 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 73 

tions. The actual nature of the desires or wishes 
may not always be understood, particularly in 
adult life, when the individual labours under so 
many repressions and inhibitions, with the accom- 
panying highly charged organism of powerful 
urges and primitive emotions. The child, how- 
ever, being less repressed by the inhibitions of its 
environment, and not yet experiencing the more 
compelling force of those urges which rapidly 
develop from puberty, dreams of its simpler 
wishes in an undisguised form. 

Plain Wish Fulfilment 

The dreams of young children have been found 
to be primarily related to food, good things to 
eat and drink, and particularly when withheld 
from them. Coveted toys are also a common 
theme of childhood dreams. The child's dreams 
are very vivid, and so realistic that it often thinks 
that its desires actually have been realized. Dis- 
appointment and denial act as a stimulation to 
dreams ; the reality of the latter in general being 
closely related to the extent of the former. 

Freud cites a characteristic example to illus- 
trate this point. His little nephew, only twenty- 
two months old, was given the honour of handing 
him a small basket of cherries on his birthday. It 
proved to be a difficult task for the little fellow 
to let the basket go, and he kept repeating, 
"Cherries in it!" But his compensation was as 



74 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

real to him as his disappointment was keen. He 
had, for some time previously been in the habit 
of telling his mother each morning that he had 
dreamt of the "white soldier," an officer in a 
white cloak whom he had once looked upon with 
admiration on the street. On the day after the 
birthday incident, he joyfully announced upon 
awakening that " Herman ate up all the cherries !" 
which idea could only have originated in a dream. 

The strength of impression of children's 
dreams is shown by a test of Dr. C. W. Kimmins 
of London, who discovered through a period of 
dream-study covering several years and involving 
six thousand children, that boys and girls between 
eight and sixteen have the power of graphic de- 
scription of their dreams that "so far exceeds 
their ability in ordinary essay writing on topics 
selected by the teacher that it would appear as if 
some fresh mental element had come into play." 
The explanation is simple. They dream of things 
that interest them. The teacher's subjects are 
not always so interesting. 

Even in adult life, where the denial suffered is 
very great, and the desires are pressing and con- 
tinuous, the dreams may be vividly presented in 
the manner of infantile wish-fulfilment. Perhaps 
no better illustration of this can be cited than that 
instanced by Otto Nordenskjold in his book, Ant- 
arctic (1904). He states that the vivid dreams 
of the crew were very characteristic of their in- 
most thoughts. Even those with whom dreams 



J 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 75 

had formerly been an exception had long stories 
to tell when dream experiences were exchanged 
in the morning. Eating and drinking formed the 
central point around which most of the dreams 
were grouped. (They were living on a very re- 
stricted diet of canned and salted foods.) There 
were dreams of whole mountains of tobacco; of 
ships approaching on the open sea under full sail ; 
of a letter carrier bringing mail and giving a long 
explanation of why he had been so long delayed, 
that he had delivered the mail at the wrong place, 
and only after great effort had he been able to 
get it back. In this time of great privation, which 
was unconsciously compensated for by wish-fulfil- 
ment in dreams, Nordenskjold comments as fol- 
lows on the psychological factor in the case: 
"But one can readily understand how we longed 
for sleep. It alone could afford us everything 
that we most ardently desired." 

The wish-fulfilment character of dreams has 
been widely noted outside of Freudian psychology. 
There is the old Chinese proverb: "The prisoner 
dreams of freedom; the thirsty of springs of 
water." A Hungarian proverb recognizes the 
universality of the same propensity by applying 
it to the animal world: "The pig dreams of 
acorns; the goose of maize." 

So-called prophetic and inspirational dreams 
have led, seemingly, to very far-reaching results, 
and are the cause of endless discussion. They 
have been undoubtedly the cause of many, if not 



76 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

all, religious cults and sects and numerous theories 
that have been set forth for the approbation of 
man. On account of our comparatively limited 
knowledge of the unconscious mind, from which 
dreams emanate, it is difficult to ascertain all the 
facts and therefore unwise to draw dogmatic con- 
clusions. 

In approaching this phase of the subject from 
the scientific angle, we must recognize that many 
factors are involved, some of which we have yet 
to become acquainted with. It is well to bear in 
mind, however, that countless incidents which 
have been a part of our experience are soon lost 
to memory, and many more are not consciously 
observed at all. This vast accumulation of sen- 
sory experiences, which is ever being added to, 
does not form a static part of our psychic content. 
It is constantly working itself around, popping 
out here and there, usually in unrecognized forms, 
in curious blendings and grotesque effects, as we 
so often experience in our dreams. 

So-Called Prophetic Dreams 

After every tragic accident or disaster, people 
rush forward and give utterance to a prophetic 
dream they had purporting to foretell the occur- 
rence. These people are undoubtedly honest in 
their belief, though rarely analytic in reviewing 
the circumstances. A great ocean steamship sinks, 
and we have the testimony of those who had 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 77 

visualized the catastrophe in a dream. How do 
the circumstances fit in with the facts ? We recog- 
nize that we have all sorts of fantastic, incoherent 
dreams, usually involving many seemingly unre- 
lated factors. Out of millions of people, probably 
some — even many — will dream of ships in any 
given night. The tragedy occurs, and instantly 
those who had dreamt of a ship of any kind will 
recall the incident; then the deeper they go into 
the details of their dream as the day wears on and 
after they have read of the particulars concerning 
the loss of the ship, the more they will note the 
points of similarity. 

In the first place, the mere fact that they had 
dreamt of a ship, with which was probably asso- 
ciated a mass of hazy dream material that by a 
slight stretch of the imagination could be con- 
jured into corroborating details, leads them to be- 
lieve that their dream has been prophetic. In the 
second place, the variety of news they have ab- 
sorbed on the subject immediately after the acci- 
dent becomes known, is confused with the dream 
memories and easily supplements them, thus 
doubly proving to the dreamer that he had been 
appraised of the coming event through a super- 
natural source. 

Even more convincing testimony than this is 
usually cited in the event of such a disaster. There 
are always people who come forward, invariably 
relatives or close friends of those who have per- 
ished, who can prove that they warned the victims 



78 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

not to sail, as they had forebodings of impending 
danger which originated in a dream. They have 
uttered their fears publicly in the presence of wit- 
nesses before the ship sailed. 

What are the circumstances that must be taken 
into consideration in cases like this, before one 
can feel justified in drawing a fair conclusion 1 It 
is likely that a ship has never left port with her 
human cargo without some nervous individuals — ■ 
relatives or friends near and dear to those em- 
barking — having expressed their fears for the 
safety of the trip. In nine thousand nine hundred 
and ninety-nine cases out of ten thousand, nothing 
happens to confirm these predictions, and we hear 
no more of them. The nervous individuals proceed 
to find an outlet for their anxiety in more respon- 
sive channels. In the one case in ten thousand or 
more, when an accident, trivial or disastrous, oc- 
curs, we have the inevitable testimony of those 
who had foreseen the danger in a dream and fore- 
warned the unfortunates. As Lord Bacon ob- 
served : ' ' Men mark when they hit, but not when 
they miss." 

This line of thought could be carried on without 
end, and is applicable to innumerable other mis- 
fortunes, such as train wrecks, fires, drownings 
through bathing or boating, automobile accidents, 
and so on. What mother is there who does not 
think many times a day of the danger of her child 
on the street from vehicular traffic, and who is 
not constantly warning the young one to look out 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 79 

for the automobiles. When an accident does 
occur, as so many accidents of this kind do every 
day throughout the country, the mother's mind 
instantly recurs to a certain feeling of mistrust 
she had at a certain time, and in her distracted 
state of mind, a commonplace psychological inci- 
dent that she has doubtless experienced every day 
for years is distorted into a premonition. 

All these factors relating to dreams, with their 
endless complications and associations with past 
experiences, mostly long forgotten, are a part of 
the constant stream of undirected thought that is 
passing through the mind of each individual all 
the time, asleep or awake. These psychic mani- 
festations are extensive enough, and rich enough 
in highly coloured material, to furnish a ready- 
made premonition or forewarning to fit the cir- 
cumstances of any accident or misfortune that 
may happen. Fortunately, in comparison with 
the fears, they rarely happen, and we seldom feel 
called upon to announce our pre-enlightenment ; 
but when the occurrence takes place, the premoni- 
tory and prognostic omen is never wanting. 

The very nature of the phenomena I have out- 
lined implies a duality of personality, which has 
been variously designated as the conscious and 
the unconscious, the rational and the mystic, the 
objective and the subjective, the mortal and the 
spiritual. When fully analysed, however, all this 
simmers down to a highly ramified organism that 
binds the very remote past with the present. This 



80 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

fusion of the archaic and the modern, when not 
reasonably complete and coordinated, results in 
internal conflict and disintegration. Many forms 
of hysteria, some with their mystic demonstra- 
tions, are merely examples of dissociation of per- 
sonality. 

At the same time, I am not the dogmatist to 
assert that there never have been cases of genuine 
premonition, or that mental telepathic communi- 
cation is impossible. I would say, rather, that the 
great mass of evidence that is alleged to prove 
these contentions is farfetched, when not spurious 
on its face. I have never myself experienced, nor 
observed in others with whom I have been in per- 
sonal touch, any "premonitions" that were not 
obviously a link in a chain of associations. And 
I have made diligent, painstaking efforts to get 
into telepathic communication with different in- 
dividuals, but always with absolutely negative 
results. 

There is a not uncommon type of dream wherein 
we seem suddenly to solve a difficult problem that 
has long puzzled our mind and defied all our 
intellectual resources. Bookkeepers who have 
searched their accounts in vain for an error have 
seen the mistake in a dream, and have thus been 
able to turn to the exact page of their books and 
find the elusive troublemaker. Professor Hil- 
precht had spent much time trying to decipher 
two small fragments of agate, supposedly finger 
rings, from the temple of Bel in ancient Baby- 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 81 

Ionia. He had given np the task and classified the 
pieces as undecipherable in the manuscript of a 
book on the subject. One night he approved the 
final proofs of his book with a feeling of dissatis- 
faction on account of his inability to solve the 
cipher on the ancient stones. He retired to bed 
and had a vivid dream: A priest of Nippur ap- 
peared and led him to the treasure chamber of 
the temple of Bel and told him that the two frag- 
ments should be put together, as they were not 
finger rings, but earrings made for a god by cut- 
ting a cylinder into three parts. The next morn- 
ing he went to his agate fragments, put them 
together as suggested in the dream, and read the 
inscription with little difficulty. 

There are two important considerations in- 
volved in dreams of this general nature. The first 
is that our mind really takes in all the circum- 
stances connected with our experiences, but only 
a small portion of them is subject to our rational 
discrimination. In the instance of the bookkeeper, 
it can only be assumed that in poring over his 
book, in a preoccupied manner, he had uncon- 
sciously noted the error, and it was only when the 
tension of consciousness was released, when the 
unconscious mind had free play, that the mistake 
was revealed to him. It had been impressed on 
the negative of the unconscious mind, and when 
conditions were favorable, this impression was 
projected back to the foreconscious in such a way 
as to be visualized in the dream. The same 



82 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

general situation holds in the difficulty of Profes- 
sor Hilprecht. 

The second factor that contributes to the solu- 
tion of problems in dreams is that in our sleep 
the excessive concentration of attention is re- 
leased, which enables the mind to sift through a 
vast number of possibilities. Concentration is a 
necessary force in any line of activity, but there 
are special instances when it does not give the 
best results. It tends to narrow the mental hori- 
zon and limits the scope of reasoning to one 
specific channel. Inside of the specific channel on 
which the mind is concentrated, the faculties are 
intensified with results that are normally in pro- 
portion. Furthermore, when we concentrate on a 
task we are apt to be convinced that the solution 
lies in a certain mode of action, and we bar out 
suggestions that would tend to throw some added 
light on the subject. 

We often unconsciously realize the necessity of 
breaking the tension of concentration when we 
reach a point that baffles us in working on a prob- 
lem. Concentration has narrowed our view, and 
we seek to relax it. We assume an abstract atti- 
tude of mind, think of nothing in particular for 
a few minutes (which means that we permit our 
unconscious mind to run along at will in its own 
free channels) in the hope that with relaxation 
some ideas will pop into consciousness. Jastrow 
has remarked that when people try hard to recall 
something, they are apt to scratch the head, rub 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 83 

the chin, tap the table, etc., which tend to produce 
abstraction, so favorable for letting in new ideas. 

Indicating Physical Ailments 

There are dreams, too, that have a decided value 
in warning us of approaching physical indisposi- 
tions and unhealthy conditions. Some of these, 
with less knowledge of our physiological func- 
tions, would be extremely difficult to analyse and 
might seem mystical indeed. 

H. Addington Bruce, in Sleep and Sleepless- 
ness, has described one of his own dreams which 
illustrates this point. He says that at least twenty 
times during a period of six months he had the 
same dream — namely, that a cat was clawing at 
his throat. There might be some variation in the 
setting, but the central episode was always the 
same, and usually the fury of the cat's attack was 
so great that it would awaken him. He was very 
much puzzled over the recurring dream, and at- 
tributed it to indigestion, finally accepting it as 
an ordinary nightmare. 

One day as a result of a heavy cold that settled 
in his throat, he submitted to a medical examina- 
tion which, to his great surprise, revealed the 
presence of a growth requiring immediate surgical 
treatment. Sometime later it occurred to him that 
after the removal of the dangerous growth, he had 
not again been troubled by the cat-clawing dream. 
He had suffered no pain, nor the least incon- 



84 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

venience from the growth in his throat, and was 
not in the slightest measure conscious of its 
presence. 

Galen {Prophecy in Dreams) mentions the case 
of a man who dreamed that his leg was turned to 
stone, and a few days later developed a paralysis 
of the leg. 

Aristides, the Greek orator, is said to have 
dreamed in the temple of iEsculapius, where the 
old Greeks were accustomed to go for inspira- 
tional dreams, that a bull attacked and wounded 
him in the knee. On awakening he found evidence 
of a tumor growing there. 

Conrad Gessner dreamed that he was stung by 
a serpent. A few days later a so-called plague- 
boil developed on his breast as a result of which 
he died. 

Hammond cited the case of a patient who, for 
two nights before an attack of hemiplegia, 
dreamed that he was cut in two from chin to 
perineum. Soon after he was afflicted with paraly- 
sis. 

All dreams of this type are due to some reaction 
of the autonomic nervous system to the slight 
irritating stimulus, not consciously perceived, of 
the pathological condition. A more common illus- 
tration of this is the dream of dental trouble or 
tooth extraction, so often found to have its origin 
in a blind pus pocket, which an X-ray picture will 
confirm. Dental dreams also are believed to be 
induced by erotic stimuli. 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 85 



Typical Dreams 

Among the types of commonplace dreams are 
those of falling and of flying. There are various 
causes attributed to these dreams. And as they 
are so universal, it seems reasonable that there 
must be certain definite biological and psycholog- 
ical factors that instigate them. 

Flying dreams are doubtless due primarily to 
man's long desire to soar through the air like the 
birds, whose faculty in this particular he has al- 
ways envied. This is a simple wish-fulfilment, 
and we have noted how potent desires are in in- 
fluencing the unconscious mind. Another causa- 
tive factor attributed to flying dreams is the 
rhythmic rising and falling of the chest when one 
sleeps in a certain position. Still another, is 
the symbolical version, which indicates that the 
dreamer aspires to greater heights of achievement 
and to rise above his fellows. It is a manifesta- 
tion of the ego urge, so powerful in us all. 

Falling dreams are frequently very terrifying, 
and are usually associated with the nightmare 
group. Some biologists have offered the theory 
that the falling dream is a racial memory, an 
heritage of the ape-man who lived in the trees. In 
these dreams we always catch ourselves, land 
safely or wake up in the excitement, which indi- 
cates that our progenitor, who originally experi- 
enced the shock which caused this indelible psychic 



86 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

impression that has become a biological fixture, 
also caught himself or fell to comparative safety, 
else the impression could not have been carried 
down. 

The symbolical explanation is also given: That 
the dreamer, whose censorship over his fore-con- 
scious is on the alert even in his sleep, dreams of 
falling as a disguised form of satisfying an ethic- 
ally forbidden wish, sexual or otherwise. The 
dream represents a "fall from grace," and satis- 
fies an unconscious desire to revert to a primitive 
state, and to be temporarily relieved from the 
oppressive restrictions of modern society. 2 

It is probable that most falling dreams are child- 
hood memories lived over in our sleep. Every 
child has fallen little or much. It is one of the 
hardships the infant must undergo in learning to 
walk. It is obvious that some of these falls are a 
powerful shock to the nervous system — which ap- 
pears never to forget an experience — thus leaving 
a permanent impression. Even many years after, 
some stimulus may arouse in the psychic stream 
a recollection of the fall, which is registered in the 
form of a dream. 

Dreams which are concerned with entering into, 
or emerging from, water or hurriedly passing 
through narrow spaces, usually associated with 
fear, are believed to be based upon biochemical 

2 ' ' The sliding down is likely to symbolize the sexual act ; the 
waters are probably the amniotic liquor which appear so frequently 
in the dreams of women." — Walter Samuel Swisher, Religion and 
the New Psychology. 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 87 

memories of the embryonic life, the prenatal 
period in the mother 's womb, and the act of birth. 
The water in which the dreamer imagines himself 
is invariably perfectly suited to his temperature, 
representing the amniotic or uterine fluid. The 
journey is through a dark and narrow passage- 
way, symbolizing the uterus and vagina ; and the 
sensation of being forced from the rear cor- 
responds to the act of birth, finally emerging into 
the open. The fear, too, is analogous to the reac- 
tion of the new-born infant who, coming from its 
abode of perfect serenity and comfort, and plunged 
into a world of new and foreboding sensations, 
ior the first time experiences fear. 

A universal similarity has been observed in the 
content of dreams of this type, which leads to the 
conclusion that they are derived from the uncon- 
scious memories of the organism in the universal 
experience of embryonic life and birth. Again the 
analogy of dreams and mythology intrudes itself 
upon us. The birth of many mythological char- 
acters, such as Adonis, Osiris and Bacchus is asso- 
ciated with a watery setting, and there is the well- 
known legend of Moses' origin in the chronicles 
of the Hebrews. 

Dreams of death to a parent or other loved one 
are very common; as also are nakedness, or so- 
called embarrassment dreams. This latter type 
is considered an exhibitionist quality revived in 
the Unconscious. Exhibitionism is an attribute 
of infancy, as it was of the infancy of the race, . 



88 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

and the ancients paid attention enough to it to 
immortalize the theme. The mythological con- 
ception of Narcissus, who fell in love with the 
reflection of himself in a pool, is still kept alive 
in art and literature, and the present-day popular 
use of the mirror indicates that this trait has not 
died out. 

No summary of dreams would be complete with- 
out alluding to the common anxiety-dream or 
nightmare. This form of dream picture, accom- 
panied by anxiety, represents the subject (usually 
female) pursued by a dangerous beast which 
threatens to throw itself on the dreamer. Char- 
acteristically, it is frequently a stallion or bull — 
animals which long have stood as symbols of the 
potent strength of animal masculinity. The 
Freudians see in these animal figures the symbol- 
ized givers of sexual satisfaction, denied in con- 
scious thinking. Another symbolization aiming 
at this end appears in dreams of burglars who, 
armed with revolvers, daggers or similar weapons, 
press in upon the dreamer. Dr. E. Hitschmann 
remarks: "The starting up from sleep because 
of such anxiety-dreams, one finds frequently in 
widows and ungratified women as a character- 
istic kind of disturbance in sleep." 

The full significance of this interpretation of 
anxiety-dreams is only appreciated when one has 
made a study of symbolism and its relation to 
sexual phenomena. Dr. Ernest Jones maintains 
that "there are probably more symbols of the 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 89 

male genital organ than all other symbols put to- 
gether." The person who dreams of a snake, a 
dagger, a fish or a bird, does not regard these 
objects as a phallic symbol and is usually unwill- 
ing to accept this conclusion until the logic of 
dream analysis convinces him. This is realized 
more fully when we refer to the history of phallic 
symbolism. 

Countless variations of these themes occur in 
the mythology, folklore and legends of all periods, 
and they are an ever recurring feature in the 
motifs of literature and the arts. We find the 
snake alone a phallic symbol in unnumbered in- 
stances. Sometimes it creeps into the mouth, or 
it bites the breast like Cleopatra's legendary asp. 
In the notable pictures by Franz Stuck, snakes 
bear the significant titles, ' ' Vice, " ' ' Sin, " " Lust. ' ' 
One of a number of excellent poetic examples 
embodying this motif is given in Morike's charm- 
ing lyric : 3 

The Maiden's First Love Song 

What's in the net? 
Behold, 
But I am not afraid; 
Do I grasp a sweet eel, 
Do I seize a snake? 

Love is a blind 

Fisherwoman ; 

Tell the child. 

Where to seize — 
Already it leaps in my hands. 

'Quoted from Psychology of the Unconscious, by C. G. Jung, 
Moffat, Yard & Co., Pub. 



90 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Ah, Pity, or delight! 
With nestlings and turnings 

It coils on my breast, 

It bites me, oh, wonder! 

Boldly through the skin, 

It darts under my heart. 
Oh, Love, I shudder ! 

What can I do, what can I begin? 
That shuddering thing; 
There it crackles within 
And coils in a ring. 

It must be poisoned. 
Here it crawls around. 
Blissfully I feel as it worms 
Itself into my soul 
And kills me finally. 

Nothing in normal life reveals our dual nature 
better than dreams. That there is a crude, irra- 
tional, archaic side to us is amply proved by them. 
And there are some outstanding themes in dreams, 
common to all the people and races of the earth, 
regardless of language, customs, social develop- 
ment, or time. Since the ancient days when 
dreams were first observed and recorded, they 
have caused mankind no end of wonderment. 



Sleep — Normal Regression of Primitive Self 

There is very good reason to believe that sleep 
is necessary as a means of temporarily relaxing 
the psychic tension; that is, enabling us to revert 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 91 

regularly to that stage which in the race is rep- 
resented in prehistoric ages, and in the indi- 
vidual, in his prenatal state — rather than to se- 
cure "rest" and to "repair the wear and tear" 
of the organism. 

Space will permit only a brief and inadequate 
analysis of this hypothesis, but a few suggestive 
thoughts will lend confirmation to it. From all 
known physiological considerations, fatigue should 
be as well relieved by assuming a restful position 
for the body and suspending all physical and men- 
tal effort, as in sleep. 

If sleep was required primarily for rest and the 
repair of tissue, then the duration of sleep on an 
average would be conditioned by the expenditure 
of energy. The truth is that those who expend 
the most energy usually sleep less than those who 
expend little. And energetic persons sleep less 
when they are active than when they are not 
utilizing their energy to capacity. 

This is explained by the fact that those persons 
who are of a more primitive nature, must revert 
more frequently or for longer periods to the 
primitive life which is assured in sleep. It is not 
essentially a case of fatigue and recuperation, but 
the primitive psychological state demands more 
frequent access to a primitive psychological 
environment — which is afforded only in sleep. 
The Caveman insists upon returning regularly to 
his native Caveland, which he can only do when 
the bars of consciousness are removed. 



92 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

The various parts of the organism are perform- 
ing their functions quite as diligently in sleep as 
when one is awake and occupying the same posi- 
tion. On the other hand, extreme fatigue is not 
conducive to sleep. We have all been at times 
"too tired to sleep." And, as I have stated, 
people who lead inactive, indolent or primitive 
lives, and expend little energy, sleep longer than 
those who are actively engaged in some effective 
work. 

Examples are often cited of very active men, 
who expend enormous energy, and sleep very 
little. Napoleon, during the most active years of 
his career as the conqueror of a great part of 
Europe, slept only four or five hours out of the 
twenty-four. "When he was banished to St. 
Helena, living a most inactive life, he slept over 
twice as long. The short period of sleep of 
Thomas Edison, a man of vast energy, is likewise 
well known. A great many other active people, 
not so prominent in the public notice, also sleep 
much less than the accepted normal period of 
eight hours, while less advanced types of indi- 
viduals, and children, who represent a more primi- 
tive stage of development, sleep considerably 
more than eight hours. 

Sleep, according to this hypothesis, is a normal, 
socially acceptable, means of escaping from 
reality and gratifying the primitive desires of the 
Unconscious. The neurotic attempts to flee from 
reality through his neurosis, as well as through 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 93 

sleep. On account of the character of our bio- 
logical make-up, and the insatiable demands of 
the primitive side of our nature, we must with 
some degree of regularity dissociate ourselves 
from our highly artificial environment. The 
normal way to accomplish this is in dreams — for 
sleep enables the unconscious mind to indulge its 
primitive desires by reveling in dreams. And we 
all dream continuously throughout our sleep, al- 
though we do not ordinarily remember what we 
have dreamed. 

It is in this way that the strain of the demands 
which society makes upon us is alleviated for the 
time being. We are psychologically active, in a 
primitive way, in our sleep, and we sleep in order 
to dream, for dreams relieve the pressure that 
accumulates in the act of battling with reality. 

Bay Breams 

Day dreams, or phantasying, like their near- 
relations of our sleep, are also wish fulfilments. 
They indicate what we are striving for, and rep- 
resent a tendency on the part of the primitive 
side of our personality to retreat from the stern 
demands of our environment while still maintain- 
ing consciousness. We sleep only eight hours, 
more or less, out of the twenty-four. The Cave- 
man within us cannot wait for this coveted period 
to come around, so he catches us off guard, and 
steals a little time between. 



94 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

In day dreams we realize and enjoy for a few 
brief moments the unattainable. We have all ' * built 
castles in the air." Some of us have soared to 
untold heights, if only to come down with a crash, 
when we find reality staring us in the face again. 
Wishing is one of the most universal of human 
experiences. We cannot wait for sleep to indulge 
promiscuously in wishes, so we engage in little 
wish sprees while seemingly awake. We may not 
actually be awake to anything but our phantasies. 
Wishes are as common to the beggar as to the 
prince or millionaire — perhaps more so, for the 
former has more to wish for that would enhance 
his condition of life. 

It is true that, unlike the dreams of our sleep, 
day dreams are usually accompanied by some con- 
scious effort. We tend to guide them, although 
this tendency in many instances is more apparent 
than real, as there is also the influence of the un- 
conscious mind — the primitive self — leading us 
on, whereas we may believe we are directing it. 

There are both good and bad features about 
day dreams. If we develop the power to co- 
operate with the unconscious psychic forces and 
"exploit" them through carrying out in reality 
the more constructive ideas they suggest to us, 
we are on the way to accomplishing something 
worth while in life. The evil side of day dream- 
ing is in indulging in it purely as an end in it- 
self, as a primitive psychological pleasure. This 
gets us nowhere. 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 95 

To quote from another work of mine, "As a 
result of reveries or day dreams, combined with 
some directed thinking, the poet and the artist 
create their immortal works; the inventor gives 
to the world his epoch-making mechanical devices ; 
the scientist discovers the natural laws of the 
universe and utilizes the knowledge so gained for 
human progress ; the ambitious student is inspired 
and spurred on to reach some goal of constructive 
effort. Such dreams have resulted in imperish- 
able works of art and literature, great scientific 
and mechanical achievements, and other priceless 
accomplishments. ' ' 

The negative side of day dreaming is in letting 
the dreams run away with us. This they naturally 
tend to do, if we give way to our primitive self. 
The alternative is to direct the dream-stream to 
an ideal objective, and conquer it for a purpose. 

The victims of day dreaming are represented 
by the loafer of all types and degrees. All lazy, 
indolent people work incessantly at this unpro- 
ductive occupation. They do not act to realize 
their ambitions, their dreams. The dreams are 
both the aspirations and the fulfilment. They 
simply live their wishes in their dreams, instead 
of trying to shape them in reality. 

Children, until taught by example and precept, 
or forced by circumstances, are much given to day 
dreaming when not engaged in play or performing 
simple duties suitable to their age and capabili- 
ties. Even the latter soon become irksome, and 



96 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

they are shunted for play, which is also an ex- 
pression of the primitive nature. So we see how 
the child is dominated almost completely by its 
elementary urges. In most cases, it is merely 
a question of environmental conditions whether 
he will dream himself down into a loafer or up 
into communion with the gods and become a 
creator of something worth while. 

In a word, day dreaming in moderation is de- 
sirable under certain conditions. Its abuse is the 
abomination. 

The chronic victim of this habit finds his 
pleasure in dreaming, and he usually prefers to 
be alone so that his dreams may not be disturbed. 
Thus, he becomes egocentric, anti-social. He flees 
from the demands of reality whenever the 
occasion presents itself, and he is always anxious 
to make such occasions. He seeks refuge from 
unbearable actualities in the unreal world of his 
dreams. As a result, no matter how shiftless or 
lazy ; no matter how low he has fallen in the social 
scale, his dreams enable him to realize, while they 
last, a coveted goal of superiority. 

The fairy tales of his childhood come true again 
in his dreams — for fairy tales have a literal value 
to the child-mind. The most absurd desires are 
momentarily realized, and the dreamer is invari- 
ably the favored fairy prince, the lavish-living 
millionaire, the prodigal son of a bountiful fate. 
He has regressed to the infantile level of his 
primitive personality, which can find satisfaction 



THE CAVEMAN UNMASKED 97 

only in the unreal world of dreams. And as it is 
with boys, so with girls ; how many of them have 
not had their Cinderella dreams? 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Abraham, Karl, Dreams and MytKs, Nervous and Men- 
tal Disease Monograph Series No. 28. 

Bruce, H. Addington, Sleep and Sleeplessness, Boston. 

Coriat, I., The Meaning of Dreams, Boston, 1915. 

Freud, Sigmund, The Interpretation of Dreams, New 
York, 1914. 

Maeder, A. E., The Dream Problem, Nervous and Men- 
tal Disease Monograph Series No. 22. 

Hall, B., The Psychology of Sleep, New York. 

Maury, A., Le Sommeil et les Rcves, Paris, 1878. 

Fielding, William J., Psycho- Analysis — The Key to 
Human Behavior. Chapter II, Girard, Kansas, 1921. 

Tridon, Andre, Psycho- Analysis, Sleep and Dreams, 
New York, 1921. 

"Walsh, William S., The Psychology of Dreams, New 
York, 1920. 

Manaceine, M. de, Sleep, its Physiology, Pathology, Hy- 
giene and Psychology, New York. 

Constable, Frank C, Myself and Dreams, New York, 
1920. 

Ellis, Havelock, The World of Dreams, London, 1911. 

Freud, Sigmund, Delusion and Dream, New York, 1917. 

Rank, Otto, The Myth and the Birth of the Hero, 
Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series No. 
18. 



CHAPTEE V 
THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 

But the Old Adam is conservative; he repeats himself 
mechanically in every child who cries and loves sweets 
and is imitative and jealous. Eeason, with its tragic dis- 
coveries and restraints, is a far more precarious and 
personal possession than the trite animal experience and 
the ancestral grimaces on which it supervenes; and auto- 
matically even the philosopher continues to cut up his old 
capers, as if no such thing as reason existed. — George 
Santayana, The Comic Mask. 

Besides his regular indulgence in revelries, 
which normally the Caveman finds in dreams (and 
abnormally in neuroses, insanity and other patho- 
logical mental states), he insists upon having his 
frequent rounds of diversions. These practices, 
like all other manifestations of our primitive per- 
sonality, are a means of relaxing the psychic ten- 
sion, of relieving ourselves from the strain of 
directed thought and, to a large extent, withdraw- 
ing ourselves from the cultural grooves of reason 
and logic. 

There is, however, one fundamental difference 
between the antics of the Caveman in all other 
of his manifestations and those which I will sum 
up as his diversions. While all the former come 
under the head of egotistical, self-centered and 

98 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 99 

often positively anti-social expressions, the diver- 
sions usually are of a social character, involving 
relations with other persons, and often contribut- 
ing much to the common weal. 

In dreams, whether of the sleep or day variety, 
the dreamer alone experiences them. They enable 
him to withdraw into an individual world of his 
own, and in them he is the chief and central char- 
acter, to whom all other persons and things are 
subordinated. 

The diversions, on the other hand, not only per- 
mit social intercourse, but they require the cor- 
roboration of other individuals to achieve their 
end. Among the most important forms of diver- 
sions, or means of gratifying the more social side 
of our primitive personality, are amusement, 
sports, play, travel, adventure, humor, jokes, and 
all other similar classifications. 

Every one of these means of expression, and 
others of their general nature, is a form of obtain- 
ing relief from the demands of our highly organ- 
ized environment. And by occasionally obtaining 
this relief from our grind in the treadmill of the 
social organization, we are better able to meet the 
demands made upon us and maintain our effi- 
ciency. Those who very rarely obtain this relaxa- 
tion from concentrated effort voluntarily are apt 
to obtain it later in a pathological form, when the 
Caveman may break loose in obsessions, psycho- 
neuroses, or even fits of insanity. 

The safety valve for blowing off the accumula- 



100 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

tion of psychic steam must be kept in working 
order, or an explosion is bound to occur sooner or 
later. 

Children, who have not yet developed far along 
the paths of rationality, spend the greater part of 
their waking hours in play or other diversions, 
because their primitive organism requires an al- 
most continuous outlet of the primitive emotions. 
The child displaying a marvelously energetic 
capacity for play may become weary, listless and 
depressed by even the most moderate demand of 
concentrated attention or application of thought. 
The prime coat of its civilized veneer is yet in 
the process of being applied, and until it is on and 
sticks, the child is the unmasked savage survival. 
It is in all respects the literal Caveman in a trans- 
formed, modern environment, which accounts for 
so many of the open conflicts between the child 
and its surroundings. 

The difference between the conflicts of the child 
and those of the average adult is largely one of 
intensity, as with the development of the individ- 
ual there is a loss of plasticity. The conflicts are 
forever recurring, but in adulthood they are more 
disguised than are those which trouble the child. 
There is also the inevitable attempt to rationalize 
them by seeking an excuse for our own shortcom- 
ings, mistakes and lack of adaptation, in the acts 
and omissions of others. 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 101 

Wit and Humor 

The most common of all the Caveman's diver- 
sions are humor and wit — real or attempted — be- 
cause they are the most accessible. The smallest 
group of persons, even down to a bare couple, makes 
it possible to indulge in a witticism, tell a joke, 
or relate a humorous story. However, a listener 
is a necessary party to a joke. Shakespeare real- 
ized this when he said, in Love's Labour's Lost 
(Act V, Scene 2) : 

A jest's prosperity lies in the ear 

Of him that hears it, never in the tongue 

Of him that makes it. 

The social value of these expressions of our 
more elementary nature, which contribute to the 
well-being of the group, lies in making life more 
pleasant and agreeable — oftentimes when it is 
depressing, and again when it would be quite un- 
bearable. 

Humor is frequently invoked under very trying 
or even tragic circumstances. We have all heard 
of instances when a grim joke has been sprung 
by some one in a perilous position. It invariably 
relieves the tension in a crisis or at a serious 
climax. Notwithstanding a realization of the 
desperateness, or even hopelessness, of the situa- 
tion, the relief we experience in a joke under these 
circumstances often lifts us out of an agonizing 



102 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

suspense. If only temporary, the relief is never- 
theless real, and may be a valuable psychic bracer 
to sustain us in a time of need. 

In the presence of death or of some inescapable 
fate impending, this tendency is quite universal. 
There is the story of the rogue who, on being led 
to the gallows on Monday, remarked: "Yes, this 
week is beginning well." 

Soldiers before battle, and in the thick of the 
fight, are known to relieve the suspense by some 
expression of wit, however grim. It is an es- 
tablished fact in psychiatry that soldiers who are 
capable of so relaxing their pent-up emotions or 
psychic tension are less susceptible to shell-shock. 

Indeed, shell-shock, is a form of psychosis pro- 
duced by an abnormal environment, in which the 
victim is unable to obtain relief from the intense 
strain over a prolonged period. Consequently, he 
develops shell-shock, which is a psychosis or form 
of insanity that may be of almost any degree of 
severity, as a substitute form of gratification of 
the self-preservation urge. It is one of nature's 
marvelous ways of obtaining compensation in a 
crisis. It is none the less remarkable on account 
of its abnormality. It has to be abnormal, because 
it has been produced by a combination of abnor- 
mal circumstances. 

Furthermore, it is always successful, from na- 
ture's standpoint. The attack makes the victim 
useless for military service, and sometimes for 
any other kind, so he is sent to a hospital or other 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 103 

institution. Even if not at once removed, he no 
longer suffers from the agonizing suspense of 
bombardment. By a very abnormal process, he 
has been relieved. 

The Irish wake is an old custom that offers an 
example of relieving the tension in the midst of 
death. This ancient folk tradition of the Irish 
race makes full allowances for the psychic needs 
of the occasion by permitting light story-telling 
and other expressions of a diverting nature. 
These practices unconsciously recognize a basic 
requirement of the psychic make-up. 

Wit, humor and the like are forms of mental 
recreation because they are in substance illogical. 
And as logic is a development of the conscious 
mind, or the cultural personality, the interruption 
of concentration, the deviation from logical rea- 
soning and serious application, affords momen- 
tary relaxation. 

The characteristic of wit is its brevity, its quick 
action, its spontaneity. "A flash of wit" in its 
true sense is as well phrased as "a flash of light- 
ning." Attempted wit, that results in long, studied 
dissertations, no matter how carefully prepared, 
is rarely, if ever, wit. While it may sometimes 
involve humorous situations, there is seldom 
present the outstanding characteristic of wit. 

There is often a deep unconscious significance 
behind slang phrases and sayings that have grown 
into the vernacular and colloquial usage. Our 
primitive nature is still vindictive toward those 



104 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

who displease or offend us, and such remarks as 
4 'Devil take you," while consciously uttered as a 
jest, have to the Caveman a grim connotation. 
The following words of a well-known soldier song 
did not become popular without a very good 
reason: 

Some day I'm going to murder the bugler, 
Some day they are going to find him dead. 

In singing this there is a form of compensation 
gained by the soldier who so often has been awak- 
ened from sleep by the disturbing notes of the 
reveille. The unconscious death-wish that is prev- 
alent in other forms of humor, or ill-humor, slang 
and oaths, has an interesting psychological back- 
ground. 

Primitive Wit 

The conceptions of wit are as varied as the types 
of mentality that engage in it. Among the more 
primitive races, groups and individuals, whose 
faculties of logic are only crudely developed, wit 
has a meaning quite different from that of the 
higher types of humanity. What would be a joke 
to one type, would have a totally different sig- 
nificance to another. 

To illustrate the point in everyday life, we note 
the ''funny" remarks that infants three or four 
years of age are prone to make. They amuse us 
because of the generally illogical character of their 
statements. In the case of unintentional misuse of 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 105 

words, resulting in a ludicrous effect, the child 
sees nothing humorous, because the infantile mind 
lacks the perception to realize that the utterance 
is illogical. 

However, the child has an appreciation of fun 
and humor — which cannot rise above the level of 
its primitive personality. The child or person of 
comparatively undeveloped mind laughs at what 
he believes to be a joke when he is placed in a posi- 
tion of apparent superiority. When the father 
gets down on the floor on all-fours, and his infant 
youngster grabs his coat-tails or rides on his back, 
and bids him assume the lowly function of the 
quadruped, the child is conscious of a feeling of 
superiority — as the adult is when driving a horse. 
This substitute form of superiority, which is 
gained when another is subordinated, is quite real 
to the primitive mind, and is intensely gratifying 
to it. 

The characteristic of this psychology is noted 
when inferior adult persons laugh or experience 
satisfaction at the fall or mishap of someone else. 
The you-are-down-and-I-am-up thought (often- 
times only unconsciously realized) is an important 
psychologcal factor in all phases of life. A sub- 
stantial part of the human race receives no incon- 
siderable share of its substitute gratification in 
some variation of this theme. It is the basic mo- 
tive of all the witch-hunting, lynching, torturing, 
hounding and persecution of the past ages and 
the present. 



106 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

The ignorant fanatic of the Middle Ages, who 
piled the faggots around the blistering flesh of a 
Bruno, felt himself lifted to a plane of real im- 
portance. The renowned Bruno, who had dared 
to explore channels of uncharted thought, was at 
his mercy. Think of the possibilities of this satis- 
faction to the primitive mind ! And today we have 
our Brunos who commit the heresies of holding 
unpopular opinions and advocating unpopular 
ideas. These people, too, are meeting the fate 
of persecution, differing only in degree from that 
meted out to their prototypes throughout the ages. 

It is not a question of the right or wrong of the 
ideas. If they are wrong, then the dissenters, who 
are in the majority, have no reason to fear them. 
Simple explanation of their fundamental error 
would be sufficient to render them powerless and 
futile. If they are sometimes right (as the ideas 
of Bruno or Galileo were progressive and right), 
then give all a chance to hear the truth, and to 
accept or reject it. 

Only the man with a conscious or unconscious 
doubt of his position, especially if he is on the 
side of the majority, needs feel called upon to 
suppress an unpopular opinion and persecute the 
one who expresses such an opinion. The really 
superior person, who is intellectually sure of his 
ground, will be content to use the cultural weapons 
of discussion and reason in attempting to detect 
error from truth. 

Another, although less vicious, example of the 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 107 

individual who secures gratification in the mis- 
fortune of someone else, is afforded in the busy- 
body type of person who goes around his or her 
circle of acquaintances bringing the latest news 
of adversity that has befallen someone. Notwith- 
standing the open expressions of sympathy that 
are vented, the eagerness with which the oracle 
unfolds his story of somebody's troubles carries 
a connotation of pleasure which a little psychologic 
insight readily perceives. A very primitive Un- 
conscious is being gratified. Every small town 
has its particular citizen who is especially known 
for his untiring energy in heralding the details 
of calamity. He (or she) is frequently the chief 
unofficial mourner at every local funeral. This is 
a phase of "Main Street" culture which happens 
to be a characteristic expression of the Caveman. 
Wit is a diverting short-cut from the stiffness 
and restrictions so constantly demanded by the 
conventions of social life. The whole evolution of 
civilization has been the history of repressing 
primitive instincts. With this constant repression 
and inhibition, there develops within us a tension 
of greater or lesser degree. The constant tendency 
of the elementary side of our nature is to relieve 
this tension. And anything that contributes to 
this form of relaxation is a mental and physical 
tonic. Of course, an excess of tonic, like an excess 
of any good thing, is undesirable. 



108 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



Humor and Adolescence 

Besides wit, petty mischief offers a favorite out- 
let to the youth and adolescent. It is the uncon- 
scious prompting and striving for some vague, 
indefinite goal of satisfaction which makes gang- 
companionship, with all its evil potentialities, so 
alluring to the boy entering upon the age of 
puberty. 

Practical adolescent psychology has taught us 
that a substitute form of gratification for the de- 
structive tendencies of the gang can be obtained 
by the youth in athletic contests, country hikes, 
woodcraft, and other diversions that afford a 
means of getting ''back to nature" in its best 
sense. These activities offer a healthy, construc- 
tive outlet for the pent-up psychic steam that ac- 
cumulates so rapidly during the critical period of 
the boy's life when he is undergoing profound 
physical and psychological changes. 

Wit and humor are strikingly in evidence dur- 
ing the adolescent period. As an instance of the 
development of this faculty, it is generally con- 
ceded that the leading college comic papers, con- 
ducted entirely by youths, many quite inexperi- 
enced, contain better examples of real, spontane- 
ous wit and humor than the national comic 
publications which have a nation-wide field of 
professional "humorists" to draw from. 

The psychology of wit takes into consideration 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 109 

the intellectual standard of both speaker and 
listeners. Subtle jokes that find appreciation in 
persons of keen mind go over the heads of those 
with less perception. This tendency is often ob- 
served in vaudeville audiences, which are apt to 
comprise people of all types and degrees of in- 
tellectual development. A particularly subtle joke 
is told by the performer, and here and there an 
individual in the audience will "get it." A few 
seconds later quite a large number will begin to 
snicker, and finally the balance of the audience 
will start to laugh — for the most part because they 
have caught the spirit of the occasion, even if they 
have missed the point made by the comedian. 

Jokes and Ancient Taboos 

Those who have gone deeply into the study of 
primitive tribes have enabled us to see the sig- 
nificance underlying the universal mother-in-law 
jokes. Primitive races have formulated elaborate 
systems of taboos, and none is more important 
than that governing the conduct and relations be- 
tween mother-in-law and son-in-law. 

The psychological explanation of this is that 
the son-in-law sees in his wife's mother certain 
traits which caused him to fall in love with his 
wife, so that there is an emotional response to 
many of the mother-in-law's actions or expres- 
sions. These are unconsciously, rather than con- 
sciously, noted, however, and on the part of the 



110 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

mother-in-law, there is the ambivalent feeling of 
tenderness and hostility toward her daughter's 
husband. The tenderness is an unconscious re- 
ciprocation of the young man's favorable notice 
of her personal qualites. The hostility is due to 
a desire, likewise unconscious, to protect herself 
against infatuation with the new, and often attrac- 
tive, addition to the family circle. The affection 
of mother-in-law for son-in-law is not by any 
means uncommon in the modern world, even if the 
alleged traditional enmity is more advertised and 
forms the motive for most of the jokes. In any 
event, the situation is very involved psychologic- 
ally, and has received even more attention in a 
serious way from the ancients than from ourselves 
in the jocular. 

Among people of little cultural development, 
wit becomes less and less subtle and descends to 
a correspondingly lower intellectual scale. Per- 
sons under the influence of alcohol, that is, where 
the conscious inhibitions are partially removed, 
may consider a lewd remark as quite humorous. 

As in dreams, sex and ego, either subtle or ob- 
vious, form the underlying themes of most jokes. 
So either of these tendencies may readily veer into 
the questionable through the force of their native 
impulse, especially when the conscious repressions 
are relaxed by convivial associations or the in- 
fluence of Bacchus. Freud has summed it up in 
these words: "Under the influence of alcohol the 
adult again becomes a child who derives pleasure 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 111 

from the free disposal of his mental stream with- 
out being restricted by the pressure of logic." 

The sexual undercurrent, so prevalent in jokes, 
is indicated to an extent by the great amount of 
cynical wit directed against the institution of mar- 
riage. The fundamental reason for this is the 
ever-present contrast between the primitive sexual 
urge of man and the monogamic restrictions which 
are formally prescribed by society. That they 
have been, and are, so widely honored in the 
breach, is another thing. Shaw touched on this 
theme with his characteristic incisive wit when he 
said in effect that man is fascinated by marriage 
because it combines the maximum of temptation 
with the minimum of opportunity. 

An example of the way a joke, based on the 
sexual motive, may achieve a wide popularity is 
afforded in the expressive term " Cleopold, " which 
had acquired some vogue in the smart circles of 
Europe. This appellation was given by a wit to the 
late King Leopold of Belgium on account of his 
attentions to the French dancer, Cleo. This also 
offers an illustration of what is known as con- 
densation ; combining syllables from two different 
words into one word, giving it a harmonious 
sound, and a naive meaning. 

Jokes, which by indirection, enable a wit to turn 
a promising situation into one of disparagement 
to others, are often very effective, sometimes 
crushing. The following incident may be men- 
tioned to illustrate this : Two speculating business 



112 THE CAVEMANj WITHIN US 

men, by a risky venture, amassed an enormous 
fortune and determined to force their way into 
high society. Among other things, they had their 
portraits painted by a noted artist. The costly 
pictures were exhibited for the first time at a 
large gathering, and the hosts themselves accom- 
panied a prominent art critic to the wall on which 
the portraits hung side by side, in order to evoke 
from him a favorable criticism. After carefully 
examining the pictures for some time, he appeared 
to be puzzled, as if something were missing. 
Finally, pointing to the bare space between the 
portraits, he asked: "And where is the Savior V 

Wit and Laughter 

The natural sequel of wit or a joke is to laugh. 
We have all had the almost unbearable experience 
wherein our sense of humor had been struck very 
pronouncedly, but the proprieties of the occasion 
made it imperative that we should not give way 
visibly or audibly to our feelings. 

As a consequence, we have had the painful sen- 
sation of being choked up with something that 
should come out, or express itself. Thus, we were 
under a nerve-racking tension, quite ready, as we 
say, to ' ' explode. ' ' Laughter is the physical mani- 
festation which accompanies the response to the 
stimuli of wit, jokes and humor generally. It is 
the means of a free and quick discharge of psychic 
energy. 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 113 

Besides the common variety of good-natured 
wit, there is also the well-known type of wit which 
causes pain or embarrassment to the person at 
whom the shaft of witticism is aimed. The per- 
petrator of this kind of joke, thus exhibits a strong 
current of sadism, which is present in all of us, 
but in widely varying degrees. One causes an- 
other pain and gets satisfaction out of it. And 
as it is done as a "joke," he does not feel the 
onus of committing a deliberate anti-social act. 
"It was only a joke." It is axiomatic that this 
type of individual seldom appreciates a joke that 
is on himself. His sadist characteristics are too 
dominating. 

Persons who good-naturedly laugh at or pass 
off jokes of this kind on themselves are evidencing 
a well-defined masochistic quality, which is also 
inherent in everyone. 

The so-called "practical jokes," in particular, 
are frequently of an irritating or even destructive 
character. The unconscious mind is fundamentally 
primitive and uncultured, and takes a positive de- 
light in causing pain to others. It craves excite- 
ment. The conscious mind, governed more by 
social influences, does much to offset the primitive 
desires. It is notable in people whose altruistic 
or social qualities have had little opportunity to 
develop — i.e. who are largely under the influence 
of their primitive nature, and especially so among 
savages — that they take a weird satisfaction in 
the sight of painful experience of others. 



114 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Atavistic traits are universal, even among civil- 
ized people, and are brought to the surface most 
pronouncedly in times of war, thus affording an 
opportunity for the psychic and physical gratifica- 
tion of the archaic qualities of the Cave-creature 
within us. 

I have elaborated on wit, humor and jokes as 
characteristic diversions of the Caveman, because 
of their importance in this role, and their constant 
usage because of ready accessibility. A number 
of other favorites could be analysed in detail if 
space permitted. Amusement in general, with 
which wit, humor and jokes are intimately asso- 
ciated, has many interesting angles as means of 
relieving the psychic tension. 

Adventure and Physical Endeavor 

In play, sports and athletic contests, we permit 
ourselves to live over again, in a healthy, con- 
structive way, our remote biological past. This 
form of diversion not only exercises the muscles, 
but is valuable as a means of promoting the vital 
functions of the ductless glands and autonomic 
nervous system, which are so closely interrelated 
with our emotions and primitive nature — the 
mechanism which prepares us for flight or fight in 
times of danger. In healthy athletic pastimes, we 
are sublimating this energy and the primitive emo- 
tions into a socially acceptable channel. 

Travel and adventure also are forms of diver- 



THE CAVEMAN'S DIVERSIONS 115 

sion that satisfy a craving. Man has some deeply 
inlaid nomadic tendencies, and travel enables 
those with the means to indulge this form of 
recreation, to forget for a time the grind of or- 
ganized routine life. The same urge (when not 
strictly economic) lies behind the wealthy tourist, 
traveling in luxury, and the penniless hobo, riding 
in his "side-door Pullman." Each gratifies a 
primitive desire to flee from reality — the treadmill 
of concentrated effort — in a manner that conforms 
to his means, imagination and training. 

Adventure ! What romances, novels, yes, hu- 
man histories, have been written around this great 
subject. Every normal boy and girl is embued 
with the spirit of adventure. It is the beckoning 
will-o'-the-wisp which lies beyond the portals of 
the present. It lures us on and on in our day 
dreams from the commonplace of our environ- 
ment to the unrealized and unrealizable phantasies 
we associate with the future. The interest of 
many readers of sensational fiction is due to the 
fact that they identify themselves with the hero, 
live with him through a series of absorbing ad- 
ventures, and fall in love with the heroine, who 
lives happily ever after. Female readers, of 
course, identify themselves with the heroine and 
her exploits. 

We have observed how youth is restless, ener- 
getic, craving action, and sidestepping laborious 
'duties. The call of adventure is the most romantic 
of all diversions and the most difficult to satisfy, 



116 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

because of its unlimited, indefinite scope. For 
most of us, it always lies beyond — like the El- 
dorado of old. It is this spirit, in part, which 
makes the played-up glamour of war so attractive 
Jto youth. The glamour imagined is that asso- 
ciated with wars in earlier history, which has been 
idealized by the passing of time, and not the deadly 
monotonous routine of modern war, which is a 
gigantic technological mechanism. 

It is the spirit of adventure, however, which we 
are discussing, and the primitive attraction of war 
to youth led William James to suggest the pos- 
sibility of a moral substitute for war, by diverting 
this archaic craving to other channels of large 
physical action, such as life on sea, adventurous 
diversions, and even work at hazardous occupa- 
tions, such as in mines, or in great engineering 
projects. 

BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Freud, Sigmund, Wit and its Relation to the Uncon- 
scious, New York, 1917. 

Bergson, Henri, Laughter, New York, 1914. 

Bain, A., The Emotions and the Will, 2nd Ed., 1865. 

Lipps, Theodor, Comic and Humor, 1898. 

Spencer, Herbert, Psychology of Laughter, London, 
1881. 

Sidis, Boris, Psychology of Laughter, New York, 1913. 

Tridon, Andre, Psycho-analysis, its History, Theory and 
Practice, Chapter, IX, New York, 1919. 

Eastman, Max, The Sense of Humor, New York, 1921. 



CHAPTEE VI 
THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 

My soul is sailing through the sea, 
But the Past is heavy and hindereth me. 
The Past hath crusted cumbrous shells 
That hold the flesh of cold sea-swells 
About my soul. 

— Sidney Laniek, Barnacles. 

It is often annoying to have tricks played on 
us. It is doubly annoying when we play tricks 
on ourselves — that is, when the deep, underlying 
personality within us — the Unconscious — gets the 
upper hand in a most vexatious way and com- 
pletely outwits our rational self. Most of these 
little tricks are so commonplace and recur so con- 
stantly in one way or another that we dismiss 
the incidents without further reflection. Occasion- 
ally, they are extremely provoking and positively 
embarrassing if they expose to others what ap- 
pears to be our weakness or a failing. 

Why is it that we forget certain things, par- 
ticularly when we are most anxious to remember 
them, or when we think we are especially de- 
sirous of remembering them? In a way we wish 
to remember them ; in another way, a more funda- 
mental, more primitive way, we wish to forget 
them. We cannot dismiss the fact that there is 

117 



118 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

a dual character which has disguised itself in the 
form of a single physical entity. Things are not 
what they seem. We look at an individual and 
see a single face, a single person. We have over- 
looked the fact, evidenced by centuries-old proof, 
and now scientifically confirmed, that every 
human face is a Janus-face; every person a dual 
personality. 

The more clearly this is realized, the more safe 
and sane we will be in our actions, the more con- 
sistent and ethical in our social relations, and the 
happier in our own little spheres. When people 
had no inkling of the innermost operations of 
their psychic and physical being, they burned men 
and women as sorcerers and witches who acted 
irrationally — or at least, too conspicuously 
so. They felt an irresistible force within 
themselves that was somewhat out of control of 
their conscious faculties, and they suspected 
everyone else who showed signs of "queerness" 
of having the same quality, very highly magnified. 
They were correct in assuming that, to all intents 
and purposes, another energetic factor existed — 
one that functioned without the conscious will — 
but they were wrong in conceiving it to be of an 
extraneous character. It was, in fact, an insepar- 
able component of their complete personality. 

Forgetfulness 

Forgetfulness is perhaps the most universal of 
our self-irritating shortcomings. We are always 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 119 

forgetting things that we meant to do. We are 
forever overlooking little duties we intended to 
perform. It has been noticed by some observing 
persons that we are more apt to forget certain 
lands of duties than others. Why? Has the 
memory cultivated a sense of discrimination 1 ? 
Does it pick and choose among the various obliga- 
tions imposed upon it? 

That portion of our psychic stream known as 
the Unconscious — the will-force of the Caveman 
— is purely egotistic and very discriminating in 
its likes, which are always of the free-and-easy, 
the pleasant, the exhilarating type. Its process 
of accomplishing the desired result is by a method 
termed "repression." Things that have an un- 
pleasant connotation to the Unconscious are re- 
pressed, or " forgotten." The more primitive the 
individual is, the more obviously this force works. 
The more intellectual one is, the more subtly it 
functions. Often it is quite uncanny in its modus 
operandi. Memories that are unpleasant to the 
Unconscious, and associations which would tend 
to recall them, are repressed out of the Conscious. 
They are held down into the immense reservoir 
of the Unconscious. For the convenience of every- 
day life, we say they are forgotten. 

There are some things we can never forget; 
some we rarely forget ; others we are very prone 
to forget. As a general rule, we tend to forget 
those things which are offensive to our ego, or 
which would deprive us of a pleasure. We tend 



120 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

to remember those incidents in our experience 
which are satisfying to our ego, and which give 
us a pleasurable, exhilarating sensation or feel- 
ing of well-being. 

Darwin was not a psychologist, much less a 
Freudian, but in his autobiography he wrote: "I 
had, during many years, followed a golden rule, 
namely, that whenever a published fact, a new 
observation or thought came across me, which 
was opposed to my general results, to make a 
memorandum of it without fail and at once; for 
I found by experience that such facts and thoughts 
were far more apt to escape from the memory 
than favourable ones." 

Notwithstanding the rare intellectual powers 
and rational development of Darwin, which as- 
sured a conscious desire to remember unfavour- 
able testimony, criticism and inner doubts, his 
unconscious mind, the unregenerate ego, was in 
the long run triumphant and repressed the things 
that were objectionable to its whims. 

It has been noted universally that we are more 
apt to mislay a bill than a check; more apt to 
forget to mail a check than a bill. If a letter 
is entrusted to us for mailing, we accept the 
obligation as a matter of courtesy, even if we 
often forget to place it in the letter box until 
several days later. There is nothing particularly 
exhilarating to the ego in mailing the letter of a 
friend or acquaintance, or even a commonplace 
letter of our own. If we start out intending to 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 121 

post a love letter we have written, there is good 
assurance of one hundred per cent, efficiency of 
our memory. 

Dr. Ernest Jones mentions that he once allowed 
a letter to lie on his writing desk several days 
for reasons quite unknown. Finally he mailed it, 
but it was returned from the dead letter office, as 
he had forgotten to address it. After he had 
addressed it, he took it to the post office, but this 
time without a stamp. At this point, he had to 
admit to himself his aversion against sending the 
letter at all. 

I recently observed a convincing incident of 
this kind, although the party in question did not 
think of the unconscious motive until I had called 
it to his attention. The assistant to the head of 
an important bookkeeping office told me that he 
had just dropped a letter in the mail box without 
a stamp. I suggested there must have been a 
reason why he did not wish the letter to reach 
the addressee. He replied that, on the contrary, 
he was especially anxious to have it go out prop- 
erly and for that reason had dropped the letter 
in the box himself, instead of having a boy mail 
it. Admitting that his intentions were the best, 
I insisted there was an unconscious reason why 
he did not want the letter to be delivered. With 
a bland smile, he stated that, as a matter of fact, 
the letter contained some information which in his 
judgment should not have been given, but that he 
had been directed to send it by his superior, and 



122 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

he had taken special pains to note on his 
memoranda papers that he had been so author- 
ized, to protect himself from future criticism. 

Some examples of forgetfulness show consider- 
able unconscious ingenuity,, either in thwarting a 
conscious desire, or sometimes in assisting our 
conscious mind to accomplish its purpose. A. E. 
Maeder has cited an excellent illustration of the 
latter. A house surgeon had an appointment in 
town, but was denied the privilege of leaving the 
hospital until his chief, who was rilling a dinner 
engagement, should return later in the evening. 
As his appointment was important, he decided to 
disregard the instructions of his superior and go 
to town. When he returned later, he found to his 
astonishment that he had left the light burning 
in his room, which he had never done before in 
the two years he had occupied the room. A little 
reflection made clear to him the unconscious mo- 
tive in doing this. His superior in passing the 
window on the way to his own home would see 
the light burning and take for granted that the 
house surgeon was within. The unconscious mind 
had intuitively sized up a situation which had 
altogether escaped the attention of the conscious 
mind, and decreed that the light should be over- 
looked. 

The Ego and Names 

A very common difficulty is in remembering 
names. We meet a person, are introduced, and 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 123 

the name seems to escape us immediately after 
the sound echoes mockingly in our ears. This 
tendency is widely varied among different people, 
and it is rarely a question of intelligence or 
"memory" in the usual sense of that term. I 
have a friend of exceptional intelligence, very 
effective in argument, which he is able to sustain 
with unlimited facts for which he has a phenome- 
nal memory. His knowledge covers a wide range 
of the social sciences, economics and theology. 
However, he seems absolutely unable to retain the 
name of a person whom he has met for the first 
time, or even several times. 

Dickens and other celebrities have remarked on 
their poor memory for names. Their ego, abso- 
lutely under unconscious influences, for which they 
were in no way consciously responsible, attempted 
to ignore certain individuals — possible competi- 
tors for fame — by repressing their identity out of 
consciousness, "forgetting" them — or to put it 
more crudely and bluntly, to deny their existence. 

Names and persons have a most intimate re- 
action on our psyche. When we meet an indi- 
vidual, we may express our pleasure (real or 
assumed) and greet him civilly, in accordance 
with the conventions. The ego, however, is not 
essentially civil. It is suspicious of strangers, 
either unconsciously fears, distrusts or dislikes 
them, and in order to eliminate them from its 
little world, it represses the fact of their exist- 
ence. The shortness of one's memory for names 



124 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

is in inverse measure of the power of one's ego. 
If the name is similar to or identical with our own, 
it is adding insult to injury according to the primi- 
tive notion of the Unconscious. It represents an 
infringement on our personality. Our name is 
very near and dear to us. Along comes a person- 
ality bearing a label like our own. To the ego, 
this is unfair competition, an unwarranted 
affront. If we do not forget the name in so un- 
usual a case, our unconscious antipathy is very 
often reflected by a conscious aversion or dislike 
for the unsuspecting offender. Those who have 
some knowledge of the operations of their psychic 
mechanism understand this situation and are not 
agitated by it. The great majority of people 
say: "There is something about him I don't like. 
I distrust him." After this prejudice is worn 
away by the mollifying influence of time, they 
may become intimate friends. 

Mislaying Objects 

An exasperating annoyance which every indi- 
vidual is the victim of at times is the mislaying 
of objects and being unable to locate them when 
wanted, until they come to notice by accident or 
through some association of ideas. Sometimes a 
chain of associations that is quite obvious will 
recall the location of a misplaced article. At other 
times the association is so subtle that it escapes 
our conscious mental processes altogether. 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 125 

A most perfect example of the latter is given 
by Freud in his General Introduction to Psycho- 
analysis. A young man told Freud that a few 
years previously a misunderstanding arose in his 
married life. He felt his wife was too cool and 
even though he willingly acknowledged her excel- 
lent qualities, they lived without any tenderness 
between them. One day she brought him a book 
which she had thought might interest him. He 
thanked her for this attention, promised to read 
the book, put it in a handy place and could not 
find it again. Several months passed, during 
which he occasionally remembered the mislaid 
book and tried in vain to find it. About half a 
year later his mother, who lived a distance from 
them, fell ill. His wife left the house in order to 
nurse her mother-in-law. The condition of the 
patient became serious, and gave his wife an 
opportunity of showing her best side. One evening 
he came home filled with enthusiasm and grati- 
tude toward his wife for her devotion to his 
mother. He approached his writing desk, opened 
a certain drawer with no definite intention but as 
if with somnambulistic certainty, and the first 
thing he found was the book so long mislaid. 

With the cessation of the unconscious motive 
to keep the book hidden, his inability to find it 
also came to an end. Similar cases, though less 
romantic in their complications, are numerous. 
Persons lose objects when they have fallen out 
with their donors and no longer wish to be re- 



126 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

minded of them. Objects also may be lost if one 
no longer likes the things themselves and wants 
to supply oneself with a pretext for substituting 
other and more desirable things in their stead. 

There is a close relation between this type of 
unconscious motive and in letting a thing fall and 
break — *' accidentally on purpose/' as the old say- 
ing goes, which is an unwitting observation con- 
taining an element of truth. The same intention 
toward the object is shown. A strongly sadistic 
individual would be apt to indulge in the latter 
method more frequently than one in whom the 
masochistic tendencies predominate. Breaking 
and destroying things are a symbolical form of 
sadism. Many accidents attributed to careless- 
ness are the result of unconscious, disguised 
wishes that the accident would happen. Careless- 
ness, as a matter of fact, is the absence of the 
conscious wish. 

The objection is likely to be raised that this 
method of reasoning attributes to the unconscious 
mind powers that are too sweeping, and without 
warrant. It may be difficult at the outset to 
accept the conclusion that the Unconscious really 
registers an impression of all our visual, auditory 
and other sensory experiences. However, there is 
an abundance of evidence that tends to confirm 
it. The far greater part of this accumulation of 
impressions is never reproduced or projected into 
consciousness, at least in a recognizable form. 
But when all the evidence in the case is carefully 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 127 

weighed and the facts analyzed, we can accept no 
other conclusion than that of the limitless, in- 
eradicable memory of our Unconscious. 

Unconscious Memories 

Many examples could be offered to substantiate 
this contention. Perhaps no better illustration 
can be given of the ability of the mind uncon- 
sciously to absorb and reproduce sensations 
(auditory in this instance) than that quoted by 
Coleridge in his Biographia Literaria of the 
illiterate German girl ill with fever, who talked 
at great length in the classic languages. It is 
suggestive enough to bear repetition here: 

"In a Koman Catholic town in Germany, a 
young woman, who could neither read nor write, 
was seized with a fever, and was said by the 
priests to be possessed of a devil, because she 
was heard talking Latin, Greek and Hebrew. 
■Whole sheets of her ravings were written out, and 
found to consist of sentences intelligible in them- 
selves, but having slight connection with each 
other. Of her Hebrew sayings, only a few could 
be traced to the Bible, and most of them seemed 
to be in the Rabbinical dialect. All trick was out 
of the question ; the woman was a simple creature ; 
there was no doubt as to the fever ... At last 
the mystery was unveiled by a physician, who 
'determined to trace back the girl's history, and 
who, after much trouble, discovered that at the 



128 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

age of nine she had been charitably taken by an 
old Protestant pastor, a great Hebrew scholar, in 
whose house she lived till his death. On further 
inquiry, it appeared to have been the old man's 
custom for years to walk up and down a passage 
of his house into which the kitchen opened, and 
to read to himself with a loud voice out of his 
books. The books were ransacked, and among 
them were found several of the Greek and Latin 
Fathers, together with a collection of Kabbinical 
writings. In these works, so many of the passages 
taken down at the young woman's bedside were 
identified, that there could be no reasonable doubt 
as to their source." 

It is a commonplace that people who are out 
of their mind from fever, injury or other mis- 
fortune — when the inhibitory faculty of conscious- 
ness is removed — will say things that quite 
obviously had been consciously forgotten, and 
very likely that they must have wished to forget, 
as often the grosser and more primitive side of 
the personality is exposed in these instances. 

The capacity of the unconscious mind for re- 
producing "forgotten" impressions, and even 
impressions that were never consciously noted, 
is so vast and far-reaching in its effects that we 
cannot begin to fathom its possibilities. Besides 
the commonplace tendencies that continually find 
expression, there are unusual evidences of uncon- 
scious mental activity which are puzzling in the 
extreme. Among a few of the means that empha- 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 129 

size the unconscious psychic processes are hypno- 
tism, somnambulism, automatic writing, crystal 
gazing, etc., and there is no telling how many of 
the phenomena that pass as spiritism, and 
telepathy, or thought transmission, are purely 
products of this vast field. Auto-suggestion, 
visions, various faith cures, and numerous other 
features that have been associated with various 
religious and ethical cults, are from evidence of 
the facts at hand, among the manifestations of 
the Unconscious. 

Maeterlinck, in one of his works, gives an ac- 
count of a girl who was hypnotized and whose 
memory was forced back to earliest childhood, 
then to infancy, and finally to a supposedly pre- 
natal state. According to this account, the timbre 
of the girl's voice suddenly changed and became 
that of an old woman who claimed that she had 
lived at a certain period prior to the girl's birth. 
Pursuing further the method of regression, the 
timbre of the voice changed once more and be- 
came that of an old man, who claimed to have 
been a soldier of the Guards of the first Napoleon. 
Demonstrations of this kind are accepted by some 
persons as proof of reincarnation. Before we 
accept such conclusions, however, it is well to con- 
sider the capacity of the unconscious mind for 
utilizing scraps of its inexhaustible supply of 
material, piecing them together and reproducing 
them in a fantastic drama such as only could be 
conceived in that fertile field. The common 



130 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

tendency of dreams and hallucinations is also 
along this channel of grotesque reproduction of 
recent or old and "forgotten" experiences. 

Our aimless scribbles while we wait with pencil 
in hand at the telephone, or when otherwise dis- 
engaged from directed mental effort, reveal 
peculiarities of our inner self that we seldom con- 
sciously recognize. We all express our uncon- 
scious desires, attitudes and thoughts, usually 
unrecognizable, when we find ourselves with pencil 
and paper and without anything definite to 
write. Artists, skilled in the technique of their 
craft, have been known to draw very elaborate 
and grotesque pictures while under the influence 
of the Unconscious. Nor is it rare for people to 
write at some length, solely from unconscious 
dictation. All writing is a more or less combined 
product of the conscious and unconscious mental 
processes. The Unconscious, when coordinated 
with directed mental effort is the f ountainhead of 
creative inspiration. 

Erroneous Actions and Speech. 

Slips of the tongue are governed by a very 
positive attitude of the unconscious mind. If we 
-consciously take the greatest pains to protect our- 
selves from making an oral mistake and then say 
the opposite to what we consciously desired to 
express, the fact that there is an underlying wish 
should be quite obvious. That the import of 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 131 

•tongue slips is essentially in accord with our un- 
conscious wishes is evidenced by the fact that we 
seldom notice them (and our unconscious mind is 
intuitively alert), although we always notice them 
in others. 

Every one in his daily routine is obliged to do 
many things and carry out instructions that are 
not entirely pleasing to the ego, even though they 
are not consciously questioned. It is in fulfilling 
these obligations, and in conforming to the re- 
quirements of common courtesy and tactfulness 
that we are apt to leave out a word, a prefix or 
syllable, or put one in when it should be left out, 
and thereby convey a meaning the opposite to 
that which we intended to express. There is in- 
evitably a wish or aversion at the bottom of these 
little sins of omission and commission, although 
it may at times be buried so deeply as to be diffi- 
cult to recognize the fact. 

The unconscious motives in these instances are 
so palpably based on the egotistical, primitive, 
selfish desires that we do not care to recognize 
them as our own inner thoughts. When a physi- 
cian said to his prosperous patient, "I hope you 
will not be able to leave your bed soon," he un- 
consciously wanted to hold on to this professional 
meal-ticket, even though his conscious ideals and 
ethics were unquestioned. 

The conceited lecturer who said " those who 
understand this subject can be counted on one 
finger — I mean the fingers of one hand," was 



132 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

■unconsciously prompted by his ego to pay himself 
a little tribute. 

Mistakes in writing have the same psycho- 
logical basis as slips of the tongue, with the quali- 
fication that omissions of words and letters seem 
to indicate a distaste for writing and an impa- 
tience to get through with it. Even among those 
not averse to writing, however, the tendency to 
use terms contradictory to our conscious will is 
common. 

Erroneous actions that are so often dismissed 
without second thought, as being due to absent- 
mindedness, are particularly good examples of 
unconscious wishes linked up with some associa- 
tions of comfort or well-being. Physicians have 
noticed that when reaching the house of a patient, 
where they felt especially at home, they were apt 
to take out of their pocket the key to their own 
door and only upon reflection finally ring the bell. 

People never hum aimless tunes. The tune 
selected, or the words to which it has been set, 
will be found to have a direct or indirect bearing 
upon the individual's thoughts or general attitude 
at the time. Pfister has collected several interest- 
ing illustrations on this subject. 

Aside from our intellectual self which is char- 
acterized by conscious and directed thought, there 
is another force at work within us, always active 
and struggling for expression. This is our primi- 
tive self, which functions through our unconscious 
actions and undirected, intuitive thought. 



THE CAVEMAN'S TRICKS 133 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Pfister, Oskar, The Psychoanalytic Method, New York, 
1917. 

Lay, Wilfrid, Man's Unconscious Conflict, New York, 
1917. 

Putnam, J. J., Human Motives, Boston, 1915. 

James, William, Psychology, Vols. I and II, New York. 

Freud, Sigmund, Psycho pathology of Everyday Life, 
New York, 1914. 

Freud, Sigmund, General Introduction to Psychoanaly- 
sis, New York, 1920. 



CHAPTEE VII 

THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 

Everyone bears within him an image of a woman, in- 
herited from his mother ; it determines his attitude toward 
women as a whole, whether to honour, despise, or remain 
generally indifferent to them. — Frederick Nietzsche. 

The substream of our unconscious mind is a 
deep and mighty current, over the surface of 
which there is spread a shallow coverlet, com- 
pletely disguising the unfathomable depths below. 
The disguise is normally complete to ourselves, 
as well as to others. Having penetrated the sur- 
face, the deeper we go into the substream, the 
more astounding are the disclosures brought to 
light. And we can never go deep enough not to 
find new wonders, new sensations, new revelations. 

Of all the factors comprising our Unconscious, 
none are more subtle, and at the same time more 
potent and far-reaching, than those contributing 
to our erotic disposition, our love-life — the Cave- 
man's passion. 

There is a clear distinction between the ele- 
ments entering into our conscious love and those 
that compose the basic, unconscious urge. The 
latter are the deeply ingrained, far-reaching 
biological factors that we have inherited from un- 

134 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 135 

told generations in the evolution of the race. 
These are the crassly sexual qualities whose inner- 
most promptings and expressions have given rise 
to prudery, as an attempt to over-sublimate them 
by suppression as a form of compensation, rather 
than to control them. 

The conscious elements are the idealistic prop- 
erties that are acquired with the rounding out of 
our cultural development, combining affection, es- 
teem, admiration, respect. 

It stands to reason that a healthy, happy, 
adaptable human being must adjust himself or 
herself so that these two erotic streams are co- 
ordinated, each interacting upon the other, and 
obtaining normal expression in a socially ac- 
ceptable manner. If the attempt is made to deny 
or frustrate the more primitive of these urges, the 
road is being paved for their outbreak in abnormal 
channels. 

Throughout the whole realm of nature, the chief 
end of life is to make one sex attractive to, and 
attracted by, the other sex. The manifestations 
of this principle, while more open and undisguised 
among animals than among mankind, are never- 
theless just as pronounced in the latter as in the 
former. Even in the vegetable world, the same 
elaborate scheme is evidenced by nature on every 
point — although there is a total lack of awareness 
on the part of the agencies involved — to bring to- 
gether in manifold, ingenious ways the two ele- 
ments that are essential to propagation. 



136 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

The unending expression of sex phenomena in 
all its variations and disguises rivals that of 
economic determinism in influencing the drama of 
life. The two great urges whose impelling power 
dominates our life are physical hunger (the crav- 
ing for material subsistence) and spiritual hunger 
(the yearning for love). 

In every normal individual there is an uncon- 
scious thrill, sometimes consciously perceived, 
upon sight of an attractive person of the opposite 
sex. More often the reaction of this phenomenon 
never rises to consciousness, as in facing the de- 
mands of reality, we cannot concern ourselves with 
every passing object that pleases our erotic Un- 
conscious. Nevertheless, the unconscious thrill is 
invariably present, and we often consciously re- 
flect it by casting a second glance or manifesting 
some other form of sexual interest which we may 
not care to recognize as such. 

"While this unconscious trait of our psyche is 
not very discriminating, reacting to all fairly at- 
tractive members of the opposite sex, there is an- 
other feature of our unconscious erotic mechanism 
that evidences a marked discrimination. 

This factor in our psychic make-up is loaded 
with possibilities for making or marring our pros- 
pects of happiness. It is an unconscious instru- 
mentality that tends to direct us with irresistible 
force toward an unknown goal. It is responsible 
for countless marital failures, ruined lives, in- 
fidelity, divorce. While it cannot be obliterated 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 137 

or suppressed, an understanding of its method of 
operation might have saved a large percentage of 
unhappy marriages from their ultimate wreckage, 
or prevented in the first place the union that could 
end only in disaster. 

What is the unconscious influence that causes 
us instinctively to take to, or show a preference 
for, a certain type of individual of the opposite 
sex? Why is it that some people fall in love at 
first sight — if only to fall out again as soon as 
they get a chance to become acquainted? This in- 
fluence is so subtle in its operation that we seldom 
stop to realize that there are types to which we 
are attracted, others to which we remain indif- 
ferent, and still others that we are repelled by. 

The attraction of one sex for the other is one of 
the great fundamental principles of life — in all 
forms of life. Nature has devised elaborate mech- 
anisms to work toward this end. And it might 
be emphasized that nature takes no account of the 
social conventions and cultural demands of civil- 
ization. It is the very important, practical job 
of the people who compose modern society to make 
some harmonious adjustment between their innate 
biological urges and the social requirements. 

The Parent Image 

There is one particular pivotal point in the 
mechanism of sex attraction, which constitutes na- 
ture 's powerful but undiscriminating device for 



138 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

carrying out the biological plan. In every male 
infant, from the moment of its earliest impres- 
sions, there begins to form a mental image of a 
woman — normally the mother, or her substitute, 
nurse, grandmother, aunt, elder sister or other 
female who may be intimately concerned with the 
task of nourishing and catering to the wants of the 
infant. The female child is similarly influenced 
by the father image — which may substitute the 
brother, grandfather or other male relative. 

The character of this image in the psyche of the 
individual governs his future attitude toward 
those of the opposite sex. Its normal character- 
istic is flexibility and adaptation, and like all other 
human qualities, it should develop and run its 
course. Its chief function is to act as an uncon- 
scious or instinctive guide in enabling us readily 
to determine our preferences in the sexual or love 
object. This picture is carried around in our 
psyche, and a comparison is unconsciously made 
whenever we see one of the opposite sex that in- 
terests us. We never lose it, although in normal 
human beings, as puberty is approached, the 
image becomes weaned from its first exclusive at- 
traction. 

The abnormal course that is open as an alter- 
native results in the parent image's becoming 
static. Instead of the unconscious image's be- 
ing transferred from its specific infantile object 
and acting as a general guide, it remains fixed on 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 139 

its original, primitive goal, and consequently 
warps the individual's outlook on life. 

In almost every instance, it will be observed 
that intelligent and otherwise eligible women who 
remain unmarried through life, or until compara- 
tively late in life, are the daughters of men of 
commanding personality, such as would be apt to 
wield a powerful influence on the imagination of 
their daughters. Following the same rule, most 
bachelors I have known have been the sons of 
women of impressive or outstanding personality. 
The parent of mediocre or insignificant personal- 
ity is much less apt to sway the unconscious mind 
of the son or daughter for an extended period after 
adolescence. 

The more obvious effect of the crystallization 
of this image is to instigate intense conflicts which 
the conscious mind attempts to repress, and there- 
fore vast amounts of energy are wasted in the 
resultant mental struggle. The ancients, without 
realizing the cause of this situation, were pro- 
foundly impressed by its effects, as we can today 
observe by reading their literature. The drama 
of King (Edipus, in its several variations by the 
foremost Greek poets — Sophocles and Euripides, 
especially — is the most striking example in all 
literature — classic or modern. This tragedy of 
(Edipus, who was impelled by his fate to kill his 
father and unknowingly win his mother for a wife, 
led to the adoption of the name of its principle 



140 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

as a term particularly suited to express the situa- 
tion. 

That CEdipus felt intensely the conflict which 
beset him is clear in the following words from 
Sophocles' version: 

"Am I not by nature a villain? If I must needs 
flee the country, and having fled am to be per- 
mitted neither to behold mine own, nor to set foot 
on my native soil; or I am doomed to be yoked 
in wedlock to my mother, and to kill outright my 
father Polybus, who reared, who begot me. And 
would not anyone, pronouncing all this to be the 
work of a ruthless demon upon me, be right in 
his words? Then may I never, may I never, 
thou spotless majesty of heaven, see this day, but 
may I be gone from among mankind into darkness 
ere that I view such a taint of misery come upon 
me." 

Equally illuminating is Jocasta's understand- 
ing of mankind's unconscious incestuous prompt- 
ings, as evidenced by her reply: "But have thou 
no fear of the bridal alliance with thy mother; 
for many among mankind have ere now, and that 
in dreams, done incest with a mother ; but whom- 
soever this reckons as nothing, he bears his life 
the easiest." 

While the early Greeks, and later philosophers, 
have shown that they had recognized the potency 
of the parent fixation, it remained for Freud to 
develop the hypothesis along scientific lines. 

The real analogy of the (Edipus tragedy to the 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 141 

ordinary parent fixation is a spiritual one. In 
ignorance, (Edipus married his mother, Jocasta, 
who bore him several children. In ignorance of 
the mother-image which dominates him, the sub- 
ject-type under discussion marries in effect this 
symbolical image, rather than a living being. And 
as disaster befell the incestuous alliance of (Edipus 
and Jocasta, so misfortune falls to the lot of the 
man who mates spiritually with the mother- 
image. In each case the character of the aveng- 
ing Nemesis was originally mysterious and 
unknown. Finally, the oracle revealed the situa- 
tion in the mythological drama; and it has 
fallen to the lot of psychological science to 
play the role of the modern oracle and point out 
the origin of the affliction and the possibilities 
for remedying it. Otto Rank has offered a con- 
structive suggestion in these words: "The detach- 
ment of the growing individual from the authority 
of the parents is one of the most necessary, but 
also one of the most painful achievements of evo- 
lution. It is absolutely necessary for this detach- 
ment to take place. ' ' 

A popular misconception has arisen of the 
Freudian attitude regarding the question of in- 
cestuous ideas. By pointing out the evidence that 
these phenomena exist, and noting their influence, 
disguised by symbolism, on mankind, the analysts 
are not "advocating" incestuous thoughts, either 
unconscious or conscious, but are merely recog- 
nizing a condition. It is considered that the 



142 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

general incredulity of the normal grown-up man 
to the significance of incest wishes is due to the 
man's aversion of his own former wishes of this 
type, which have since succumbed to repression. 

It has been found that a man tends to marry a 
woman who bears some resemblance to his mother. 
There is no limit to the points of resemblance, real 
or imaginary (as they sometimes are), that the 
man may find in the object of his love, which the 
Unconscious perceives as likening to the mother, 
from whom it has received so many comforts. The 
likeness may be extremely slight, something about 
the hair, the walk, an attitude, or, perhaps more 
frequently, a resemblance in point of figure. Then 
again, it may be entirely imaginary, a phantom 
which the Unconscious, in its crude, primitive 
manner, has conjured into reality. 

But there is often a tangible resemblance. 
Years ago, Karl Pearson was puzzled to find that 
the color of eyes was more alike in man and wife 
than it should be in first cousins, according to 
biological theory. As a man tends to marry a 
woman resembling his mother, and a woman tends 
to marry a man resembling her father, the color 
of the eyes must be among the first of all like- 
nesses to be recognized and seized upon by the 
Unconscious. As the percentage of men who have 
inherited the color of eyes of their mother, and 
iwomen the color of eyes of their father, is very 
great, it explains the reason for this point of com- 
mon resemblance between husband and wife. 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 143 

There can be no doubt but what there are still 
important principles of heredity to be discovered. 
It is quite possible that some of these secrets of 
nature may govern the transmission of character- 
istics from parent to child of the opposite sex, as 
a means of furthering the scheme of life. 

Normal or common traits are more difficult to 
trace for obvious reasons. Abnormal and unusual 
traits are easier to observe. One instance of this 
kind is the ocular defect known as Daltonism or 
color-blindness. A color-blind man usually will 
not have color-blind children ; nor will the children 
of his sons be color-blind, but the sons of his 
daughters will be color-blind. This form of ocular 
abnormality is rare in women, but it is transmitted 
from man to grandson through the female line. 
Color-blindness is understood to have its seat, not 
in the visual center, but in the eye itself, or in the 
nerves of the eye, whereby imperfect sensations 
are transmitted to the brain. Haemophilia, or the 
"bleeding disease," a more serious affliction, has 
the same hereditary characteristics. 

A Neurotic Basis 

The individual who carries the parent image in 
his Unconscious so that it dominates his actions 
is a typical neurotic. This image is present in 
everyone, and it always exerts more or less influ- 
ence, but in the normal person it is not a dominat- 
ing factor. 



144 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

The presence of the mother image does not im- 
ply that the picture is a replica of the mother 
as she appears in the adult life of the son. The 
impression is as she appeared to the Unconscious 
of the man or youth in his infancy. The neurotic 
may treat his mother with scant consideration, 
display ill-temper and even disrespect, and still 
be dominated by the infantile image of his mother 
which he unconsciously holds as a model for all 
womanhood. It is inevitable that all women who 
come under his observation fail to measure up to 
this stereotyped standard. Even the mother in 
the flesh, as she is at the present time, falls short 
of the ideal that is registered in his psyche. 

It is a symbolical image or distorted memory 
that he unconsciously worships — a living replica 
of which he is ever trying to find for his own. It 
is written in the records of fate that he is doomed 
to disappointment, because such a thing — the liv- 
ing phantasy of his Unconscious — does not exist. 

This is the unrecognized factor that causes 
many men to remain unmarried throughout life. 
They are unable to find the non-existent mate they 
are continually looking for. 

Even worse is the fate of the man with a 
dominating mother-fixation who marries, because 
he soon discovers that his wife is not the woman 
he thought she was. It is true she is not, nor 
could she be. It is not within the province of any 
woman to fill the bill. 

Many who are not confirmed neurotics, but who. 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 145 

have strong tendencies in that direction, feel a 
similar something lacking, an indescribable ele- 
ment in their marriage relations. They realize 
that the woman they have chosen is a good wife, 
but there is some misgiving which they feel but 
cannot definitely place or define. An insight into 
the real situation would show them that they are 
simply trying to measure up a very human person 
with the image of a non-existent ideal. 

This knowledge, in ordinary cases, will supply 
the key to the situation, and lead to a satisfactory 
reorientation of ideas. It will suggest to persons 
of this type the futility of trying to find the im- 
possible (which is always a neurotic tendency of 
getting away from reality). Therefore, if not 
hopeless or too far gone, they will adjust them- 
selves to actualities, realize that a man should 
love his wife for her own qualities, and not feel 
slighted because she lacks some imaginary ones. 
By doing this, he will be forsaking the infantile 
attitude of the baby who demands the moon, and 
cries because he cannot have it. This is essentially 
what the neurotic is doing. 

All of these remarks, of course, apply with equal 
weight to the female neurotic who is dominated 
by a father-fixation. 

The parent-fixation has been found to be the 
cause of many cases of impotence — termed psychic 
impotence — because in the wife, the husband's 
Unconscious senses a member of the mother-sister 
class, with whom, on account of the incest barrier, 



146 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

it is impossible to experience the consummation of 
the sex act. For the same reason, it is the cause 
of frigid wives. The consequences of this condi- 
tion may better be realized when we take into con- 
sideration the fact that impotence and frigidity 
are universally recognized as fertile breeding 
grounds for marital disharmony with all its re- 
sultant evils. 

It has been observed that men of this type who 
are impotent with their wives, may resort to pros- 
titutes and secure sexual satisfaction. This is be- 
cause the prostitute, being recognized as a low 
and fallen woman, is not in the mother-sister class, 
and therefore the incest barrier in these relations 
is not operative. The incest barrier, as an 
hypothesis, has been compared to the incest taboo 
found among primitive peoples. Its biological 
reason for existence has been ascribed to an un- 
conscious impediment devised by nature to pre- 
vent inbreeding. 

Homosexuality 

Homosexuality also has been observed to be a 
result of a parent fixation. In this case (for men) 
all women fall under the ban of the incest barrier, 
and the natural sexual urge is driven into abnor- 
mal channels. This perversion leads to the desire 
for sexual congress with a member of the same 
sex. 

It has thus been found that homosexuality, in- 
stead of being due to an inherent trait or vicious 



THE CAVEMAN S PASSION 147 

character, is conditioned by an unfavorable 
environment. The boy who is raised in an environ- 
ment too exclusively feminine or is Mollycoddled 
beyond all bounds by his mother, may develop 
into a homosexual. 

Where the youth is raised from infancy in a 
home without the father or other adult male, 
there is no normal model that the boy can con- 
sciously and unconsciously imitate. Being com- 
pelled to imitate some one in order to establish 
a standard of behavior, he copies his mother's 
attitude of physical indifference to women and 
physical interest in men. Thus, psychologically, he 
becomes a woman and as he reaches physical 
maturity, he will prefer to imagine sexual gratifi- 
cation as a woman would. 

The nature of the physiological development of 
the individual through fetal life and infancy con- 
tributes to this result. In the embryonic growth, 
there is a period when it is neither male nor 
female, and may later become either one or the 
other. There is present a rudimentary outline 
of the physiological characteristics of both sexes. 
Therefore, when the sex of the fetus is established 
there are existent certain features of the opposite 
sex as well. The infant is born with bisexual 
qualities, traces of which are retained throughout 
life. The vestigial breasts are noticeable in the 
male, and hair on the face of the female. 

These physical bisexual features are paralleled 
in the psyche. This is particularly striking in 



148 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

infancy and childhood. There is, for instance, a 
great deal less difference between little boys and 
girls mentally than there is between men and 
women. The early life represents a homosexual 
stage, with a gradual broadening out toward the 
heterosexual goal at puberty. However, if the 
environment is so one-sided that progress toward 
the heterosexual objective is thwarted, and it may 
be arrested at any stage of its evolution, then 
there results a cessation of psychic development 
at a certain homosexual level. 

Bousfield has indicated the evolution of the 
sexual components of the child in the following 
manner : * 

Infant: autosexuality 100% 

Child of twelve years of age: 

Autosexuality 40% 

Homosexuality 50% 

Hetero sexuality 10% 

Normal individual at puberty: 

Autosexuality 20% 

Homosexuality 30% 

Hetero sexuality 50% 

Any or all of these components may be: 

(1) Eepressed and then sublimated. 

(2) Repressed without adequate sublimation. 

(Causing neuroses, bad habits, etc.) 

(3) Not repressed but expressed. 

(4) Displaced. 

*Paul Bousfield, M.D., The Elements of Practical Psycho- 
Analysis; E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 149 



Narcissism 

That period in the development of the indi- 
vidual which follows the infantile autosexual, or 
autoerotic, may best be stressed under the term, 
narcissism, which is so commonly used in the new 
psychology. It is taken from the well-known 
Greek mythological character, Narcissus, who fell 
in love with his own reflection in a pool. Thus 
enamored of himself, he spurned the approaches 
of Venus and was destroyed or lost his eyesight, 
according to the different versions. The virtue 
of the comparison is that the individual who con- 
centrates his whole attention upon himself will 
perish. 

Narcissistic development normally runs its 
course between the ages of from six to twelve or 
fourteen, although strong traces of it remain in 
everyone. It does not represent a conscious self- 
worship, such as is evidenced in the auto-erotic 
exhibitionist, but it is more disguised and subtle, 
and less directly sexual. The child or narcissistic 
adult considers all things in their relation to him- 
self, and not as related with some other thing or 
with all other things. 

Altogether there is perhaps no tendency that is 
so rampant in modern life. And its influence re- 
acts on the social relations no less than on the 
individual. Dr. Smith Ely Jelliffe has stated that 
the present stage of civilization is chiefly narcis- 



150 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

sistic. In other words, there is an inertia of social 
conscience which is directly reflected in the malad- 
justments of society. We are still at the pre- 
adolescent level of social development. 

Among the common characteristics of the nar- 
cissistic fixation is impatience, the impulse to 
accomplish something as soon as the wish is con- 
ceived. Then, before this may have been even 
started upon, another infantile desire intrudes it- 
self. And so the wild and futile chase proceeds. 

Narcissism of a pronounced type often turns 
to homosexuality, as it has much of the mechan- 
ism of the latter. The modifying condition, how- 
ever, is that the object admired must be like the 
individual himself, because in projecting his 
erotic feelings upon another, he is in effect identi- 
fying the second party with himself. 

However, if the erotic stream is directed to an 
heterosexual goal, the love object will in all prob- 
ability be of a type physically and mentally simi- 
lar to himself. His own personality is the ideal 
that others have to measure up to in order to 
interest him. 

Fetichism 

Fetichism is an erotic displacement in which 
the sex impulse is concentrated upon an object 
which in itself has no direct erotic significance, 
but is merely symbolic of the normal sexual aim. 
It is expressed by seeing or touching a particular 
part of the body or article of wearing apparel 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 151 

associated with that part of the body. The great- 
est amount of fetichism seems directed toward 
the hair, ankles and feet. It is common for 
fetichism to be focused on inanimate objects, such 
as handkerchiefs, shoes, stockings, petticoats and 
hair ribbons, which are suggestive of the parts 
of the body upon which these objects are worn. 
There is a wide variation among people in the 
parts of the body upon which the attraction is 
centered. 

The nature of the fetich is governed by uncon- 
scious memories that are formed very early in 
life. Normally these concealed memories lead one 
to admire certain features or characteristics of 
members of the opposite sex. 

There are traces of fetichism, of varying de- 
grees, in all human beings. When a man obtains 
satisfaction in saving the lock of hair, or glove 
or handkerchief of his sweetheart, or of someone 
else dear to him ; and when a woman treasures the 
flower worn by her lover, we have examples of 
fetichism that are quite normal and socially 
acceptable. The mark of distinction between the 
abnormal and the normal, as in all other human 
characteristics, is one of degree rather than kind. 
When an individual becomes obsessed so that 
his principal interest is concentrated on a certain 
part of the body that 'as no direct sexual signifi- 
cance, or more especially on a certain object, then 
it is recognized as the perverse condition, termed 
fetichism. 



152 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

In its more pathological forms, the symbol has 
such a dominating influence over the fetich- 
worshipper that he prefers it to the part that it 
symbolizes. It is said that many fetichists, in 
order to indulge their fancies to the utmost, enter 
a business which gives them the maximum oppor- 
tunity ; thus some becoming shoe salesmen to real- 
ize their aim. 



Exhibitionism 

In considering the exhibitionist component in 
our psychic make-up, we are interested only in its 
common manifestations. The pathological condi- 
tion is when the subject secures conscious sexual 
gratification by displaying very personal parts of 
his anatomy. This form of perversion is not rare, 
and is the antithesis of the desire to see sexual 
objects — the abnormal type being designated as 
the voyeur or more popularly as "Peeping Tom." 

It might be mentioned, incidentally, that in 
every individual there is a group of opposing 
traits that constitute the ego and sex properties 
of the individual, and the sum total of all these 
qualities constitute one's personality. These 
opposing traits, in the normal person, are so ad- 
justed that they strike a satisfactory, workable 
equilibrium, so that the individual functions with 
as little friction as possible in his social relations. 
Conflicts, neurotic states, abnormalities and per- 
versions, are a matter of maladjustment of some 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 153 

of these psychic components, the causes usually 
being deeply rooted in the experiences of early 
life. 

Just to allude to a few of the factors involved, 
there are both heterosexual and homosexual 
tendencies (the latter being vestigial or rudimen- 
tary in the normal adult) ; there are qualities of 
exhibitionism and sexual curiosity ; of sadism and 
masochism (the former in a degree is more 
peculiar to men and the latter to women) and 
others that are not so pronounced. 

Examples of exhibitionism are so manifold and 
commonplace that we simply take them for 
granted without question. The manifestations are 
directed by the unconscious psychic processes and 
are a part of the secondary characteristics of sex. 
In this category, we recognize the propensity of 
women to wear low-necked dresses or gowns, 
short skirts, sleeveless waists, transparent fabrics, 
and similar dress effects, which permit more or 
less display of the flesh or figure, and thus afford 
an unconscious and frequently a conscious gratifi- 
cation of women's exhibitionist traits. Other 
examples of the same thing are elaborate hair- 
dressing arrangements, picturesque hats, corsets 
(which were once supposed to emphasize the 
feminine shape), pointed shoes and high heels; 
various poses and attitudes, and other evidences 
that are considered to typify femininity. 

Men also display exhibitionist qualities which 
are characteristic of their sex. Prominent among 



154 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

them are forms of dress which display or suggest 
masculine strength, such as square-cut or padded 
shoulders, athletic costumes and numerous actions 
and affectations which have as their motive the 
conscious and unconscious desire to attract the 
attention and win the admiration of the fair sex. 
It is a conspicuous degree of exhibitionism in 
the ego-centre which spurs on certain persons of 
both sexes in their desire to take up acting, public 
speaking, lecturing, demonstrating or other call- 
ings of this general nature. 

Sadism and Masochism 

Sadism (a term derived from Marquis de Sade, 
a French novelist who exploited perversions and 
cruelty of man to woman) is the psychic element 
which causes one to obtain satisfaction by in- 
flicting pain on another. It is a positive force 
in our lives, and its operation is more manifold 
than we might like to acknowledge. It is ex- 
pressed in the child who teases or injures cats, 
dogs and other pets, and, in a symbolical form, 
in destroying dolls and toy animals. It is an 
outstanding characteristic of the bully, and all 
individuals who subject others to acts of cruelty 
and punishment (even though it is "done for their 
own good"). In a lesser degree, it is manifested 
in tickling, teasing, and petty annoyances of a 
like nature. A very pronounced degree of sadism 
is shown by parents who whip their children; 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 155 

men who beat their wives; boys who look for a 
fight; successful soldiers, pugilists, football 
players, and other physically aggressive persons. 

In all its phases, sadism is probably the most 
typical characteristic of the Caveman within us. 
Undisguised, it is observed in the savage, who 
glories in his cruelty, and exhibits the scalps he 
has taken, or the skulls, as trophies worthy of 
his valour. The "bad man" of the old frontier 
who nicked the butt of his gun for every "man 
that he got," is scarcely less pronounced in his 
sadism. And their counterpart is with us today 
in the gun-toting gangster of the modern city. 
But we do not have to go to these criminal ex- 
tremes to find positive sadistic traits. They are 
present, actively and passively, in every indi- 
vidual, and it requires only the scratching of the 
surface to reveal them undisguised. 

In its purely sexual aspect, sadism is mani- 
fested by the individual (usually male) who 
obtains satisfaction by inflicting pain on his part- 
ner in the sex act. It may be evidenced in a very 
slight degree, so that it gratifies the Unconscious 
only or it may be more pronounced, causing real 
pain or injury to the other party. The most ex- 
treme pathological form of sadism is typified in 
the Jack-the-Ripper, who gratifies his perverted 
passions by atrocious means, such as mutilating 
or murdering his victim. 

A perfect illustration of sadism, with the char- 
acteristic feelings of love and hate in operation, 



156 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

is given in Oscar Wilde's version of "Salome." 
Having fallen madly in love with John, who spurns 
her advances, she gratifies her craving by having 
him beheaded. Then Salome takes the severed 
head and lavishes caresses upon it, as only the 
degenerate sadist conld. 

Masochism (from L. von Sacher-Masoch, an 
Austrian novelist, who described cruelty practised 
on self) is also a characteristic inherent in every 
one. WTiile less noticeable in its manifestations 
than sadism, Its opposing trait, it is no less wide- 
spread. The two qualities are ever present in 
every individual, although in widely varying pro- 
portions, and constitute one of the several am- 
bivalent features which shape our personality. 

There are individuals who are said to be glut- 
tons for punishment. They can take beatings and 
stand pain with great fortitude. In arduous 
games and performances, such as football and 
prize rights (already referred to under sadism) 
the participants both give and take punishment 
at the same time — and the ideal athlete is one 
adept at both. In this way he shows his sadistic- 
masochistic qualities. This is an expression of 
the ego, rather than the sexual nature. 

Masochism in its sexual phase is evidenced in 
the person (usually female) who obtains sexual 
gratification through being subjected to a certain 
amount of pain during intercourse. The sex act 
is usually accompanied by some slight suggestion 
of pain to the woman, although in the proper 



THE CAVEMAN'S PASSION 157 

relations not the slightest harm or injury is done. 
However, there is a symbolic expression of this 
phenomenon — i.e. the mastery of the male and the 
submission of the female. 

There are male masochists in the pervert class 
who experience sexual gratification by submitting 
to beatings — usually hiring prostitutes or others 
for that purpose. 

Extreme cases of masochism and sadism have 
been laid to the witnessing by young children of 
their parents' embracing. Misunderstanding the 
nature of the act, the sometimes playful imita- 
tions of violence by the man and the suffering 
pretended by the woman may lead the child to 
commit in reality cruelty which the father only 
shammed, or another child to seek suffering which 
the mother seemed to feel. In short, the incident 
makes such an impression on the child that in 
his future sexual relations he unconsciously iden- 
tifies himself with the apparently cruel father or 
the apparently abused mother. 

When the natural sex instincts in mature adults 
are thwarted or suppressed, a substitute form of 
gratification is often obtained through maso- 
chistic-sadistic expressions. The early Christian 
ascetics, who denied themselves sexual inter- 
course, but found pleasure in flogging themselves 
(masochism) and others (sadism) offer a classic 
example of this abnormality. The same principle 
at work in a modified scale may be observed 
throughout history right down to the present. In 



158 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

the aggressive puritanical types and many ascetic 
reformers, we see persons whose morbid attitude 
toward natural phenomena, reacts in the form 
of petty persecutions and tyrannizing. Thus they 
find a really primitive outlet for an energetic 
force that is denied its normal expression. 

The further the individual advances along cul- 
tural lines, the more his sadistic-masochistic char- 
acteristics may be sublimated into socially accept- 
able channels. A socially useful application of 
the sadistic tendencies is afforded in surgery, den- 
tistry, the butcher business, and a variety of other 
callings. It is the masochistic trait which enables 
a normal person to render valuable service at the 
cost of pain or personal sacrifice, such as nursing 
or administering to the afflicted. Another and 
rarer example is in willingly going to jail or suf- 
fering punishment for a principle or to advance a 
cause. 

BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Lay, Wilfrid, Man's Unconscious Passion, New York, 
1920. 

Bousfield, Paul, The Elements of Practical Psycho- 
Analysis, New York, 1920. 

Fielding, William J., Sanity in Sex, New York, 1920. 

Freud, Sigmund, Three Contributions to the Theory of 
Sex, Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph No. 7. 

Smith, Wm. Hawley, Children by Chance or by Choice, 
Boston, 1920. 

Tridon, Andre, Psychoanalysis and Love, New York, 
1922. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CAVEMAN FRETTING 

A wish earnestly desired, 
Produced by will, and nourished 
When gradually it must be thwarted 
Burrows like an arrow in the flesh. 

— Gautama Buddha. 

There is no end to the ills that have their origin 
in the Caveman's maladaptations. The progress 
of civilization has been possible only with the 
socialization of primitive, self-centered urges. 
Too often, however, these urges have not been 
socialized, or turned into some constructive outlet, 
but instead have been repressed. 

The result of this commonplace tendency has 
been that the Caveman, denied a satisfactory 
means of expression, either primitive or social, 
has grown fretful and irritable under the re- 
straint. The degree of minor afflictions ranges 
from mild irritability to chronic indisposition, de- 
pending upon the extent of the repressions. 

These fretful ailments are usually designated as 
a manifestation of " nerves," and are considered 
to be the result of overwork, brain fag, fatigue, 
or rundown condition. 

Accepting this popular diagnosis, it was natural 

159 



160 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

that the remedies prescribed should be ''rest 
cures," tonics, experiments in dietetics and vari- 
ous innovations in short-cuts to health. 

The inefficacy of these remedies is attested by 
the growing number of nervous cases in conjunc- 
tion with the continued development of sanatoria, 
the everincreasing sale of "nerve-building" tonics 
and the popularity of dietetic and health fads. 

The Untiring Nerves 

There is every reason to believe that the great 
mass of so-called " nervous disorders," including 
neurasthenia and other neurotic disturbances, is 
not the result of nerve exhaustion, brain exhaus- 
tion, or other form of mental strain or overwork. 

According to the latest findings of the experi- 
mental psychologists and biologists, it does not 
appear that the brain and nerves can be exhausted 
by intellectual effort, per se. 

In explanation of this apparently sweeping 
statement, to those who have experienced, or 
think they have experienced, brain fag from ex- 
cessive mental effort, it may be added that mental 
exertion has no appreciable effect on the brain 
and the nerves, but instead reacts on the senses, 
the blood, the muscles and the flesh. Dr. Paul 
Du Bois, the eminent neurologist, has stated that 
among all his nervous cases, he has never found 
one which could be traced to intellectual over- 
work. 



THE CAVEMAN FRETTING 161 

So far as the modern laboratory can discover, 
the nerves of the most confirmed neurotic are per- 
fectly healthy. They are not injured, depleted or 
starved; the fatty sheath is unimpaired; there is 
no inflammation or accumulation of fatigue toxins, 
and the nerve cells are in every way intact. 

The so-called "nervous diseases" are not symp- 
toms of an unhealthy condition of the nerves, the 
brain, or spinal cord. On the other hand, they 
represent a state of misplaced, divided or uncon- 
trollable interest and attention, and have their 
seat in the glands, the senses, the emotional mech- 
anism, and the muscular tissues. 

Where there is actual disintegration of the 
nerve structure, as in locomotor ataxia, the result 
is paralysis of the portion of the body controlled 
by the affected nerves. These afflictions comprise 
a very small percentage of human maladies; 
whereas the so-called "nervous disorders" out- 
number all other ailments put together. 

The nervous system seldom distinguishes be- 
tween overwork and underwork. Neurasthenia is 
as apt to be associated with the latter as with the 
former. "Nervous disorders" in some instances 
may be accompanied by overwork, but they are 
not due to overwork, as we shall see. They are 
just as often found among people who have so 
little to do that killing time becomes monotonous. 

The relationship between work and "nervous" 
troubles requires further elucidation. From the 
foregoing, it may be assumed that advice is given 



162 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

to those who are already working hard at some 
routine occupation, and think they are bordering 
on a nervous breakdown, to add a little bit more 
of the same kind of labor to their burden. 

There is one essential requirement in making 
arduous work nerve-proof, and that is it must be 
interesting. This does not make it consume any 
less energy, but it means that work then becomes 
a source of satisfaction to the ego. As the ego 
is a factor of our primitive personality, we are 
again brought to the point where we must stress 
the necessity of coordinating the social and primi- 
tive sides of our personality. When the nature 
of our work is such that it accomplishes this result, 
there is no danger of nervous collapse from over- 
work. 

Comparatively few people, however, are so for- 
tunate as to have this kind of "job." With the 
rapid specialization of industry and business, the 
opportunities for expression of the personality 
and gratification of the ego at one's work are 
becoming more rare. The exceptions are to be 
found mostly in those fields that are devoted to 
experimentation and development, or that offer 
free play to the individual's initiative. 

How can the person with the average routine 
job best obtain the ego gratification that is denied, 
or at best only partly satisfied, in working hours? 
If he feels his nerves on edge, and that he is over- 
worked, is it the part of wisdom to advise him to 



THE CAVEMAN FRETTING 163 

take the rest cure (if he can afford it) or get an 
easier job? 

Barring those instances where the individual's 
work is obviously beyond his physical strength, 
and these are not "nervous" cases, it is not a 
question of overwork, and therefore "rest" is 
futile. The average person in this condition is 
suffering from maladaptation of his primitive na- 
ture — a lack of proper emotional outlet, combined 
with an attempt at self-coercion, which produces 
manifold complications in the personality. 

A hobby that offers some creative possibilities, 
and that appeals to the particular bent of the 
individual, is undoubtedly the best "nerve bracer" 
to be found. If this is combined with an insight 
into the psychic and emotional processes, it will 
often affect a revolutionary change in disposition. 

Not seldom a change of attitude, resulting in 
a more ready adaptability to the inevitable, is 
realized in a personal crisis. This accounts for 
the beneficial results obtained so frequently from 
Christian Science, New Thought, and other cults 
which operate through suggestion. The emotional 
appeal is so often responded to at some period in 
the individual's life when the emotional nature is 
at its height, as at a climacteric or during an ill- 
ness. Consequently, a part of the personality that 
had been denied an adequate outlet is now vouch- 
safed a means of expression, with untold benefit 
to the organism as a whole. 



164 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Many people with a more strictly rational turn 
of mind (as contrasted with the emotional), who 
obtain a real insight into their psychic operations, 
secure similar advantages by turning their re- 
leased energy into channels of scientific interest. 

The CEdipus Complex 

The CEdipus, of all the complexes, has been 
found to be the link which most frequently binds 
the individual to the past, drawing him back to 
an infantile goal of satisfaction. This archaic de- 
sire in the soul of the male, Freud has named in 
recognition of its analogy to the tragedy of King 
CEdipus, who, according to Sophocles, by fate 
killed his father and won his mother for a wife. 
It has its female counterpart in the Electra com- 
plex. Electra, according to Euripides, took re- 
venge on her mother for the murder of the 
husband because she was in this way deprived 
of her father. 

As the psychological reaction is the same in each 
instance, the term CEdipus complex is often used 
interchangeably for both situations, it being un- 
derstood that the sex of the parent is the opposite 
to that of the child. 

Leaving aside the more severe pathological 
cases, there are still to be found in the general 
run of neurotic afflictions a countless host of 
people who are influenced by this nuclear or root 
complex, so called because its influence is so 



THE CAVEMAN FRETTING 165 

powerful that it seems a determining factor in 
facing many of the problems of life. 

Biography offers an interesting study of many 
famous characters who were influenced pro- 
foundly by the (Edipus complex. Some of these 
instances may be observed in Chapter XV, in con- 
nection with neurotic and pathological tendencies 
in men of genius. The older writers and biograph- 
ers themselves did not realize the underlying 
psychological motive, and that makes it the more 
interesting to read the unrecognized "complexes" 
interpreted so accurately from the facts at hand. 

Just one illuminating example will suffice. We 
are told that one of Pascal's idiosyncrasies was 
that he could not bear to see his father and mother 
together; they had to approach him separately. 
We see here the unconscious jealousy toward his 
father and the desire to be the sole love of his 
mother. The complex was so powerful that the 
association of ideas brought about by the presence 
of both parents produced an unbearable conflict. 
By seeing his parents separately, the love-jealousy 
( (Edipus) complex was not so strongly moved. 

Worry and Fear 

Worry is the outstanding characteristic of the 
neurotic, and worry is merely another name for 
fear. The most groundless fears are seized upon 
by the neurotic mind, and translated into moun- 
tains of worry. If there is positively nothing real 



166 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

or tangible to worry about, then the imagination 
will quickly overcome the deficiency. No better 
example of this has been instanced than that given 
by Dostoevsky, the Russian novelist : ' ' There was 
a frightful fear of something which I cannot de- 
fine, of something which I cannot conceive, which 
does not exist, but which rises before me as a hor- 
rible, distorted, inexorable and irrefutable fact." 

Invariably it will be found that there is some 
hidden complex responsible for these groundless 
fears. When a person is "touchy" about some- 
thing, it is evidence that there is a complex con- 
nected with it. The ideas around which have 
gathered the painful emotions are buried deep in 
the Unconscious. Ordinarily, they escape into 
consciousness only occasionally, and are identified 
by their sensitiveness regarding some particular 
subject. 

The variety of obsessional fears is infinite, but 
there are certain kinds so typical that they have 
been classified. Among these symptoms of psycho- 
neurosis, sometimes referred to as psychasthenia, 
are agoraphobia, fear of open spaces; claustro- 
phobia, fear of closed spaces ; astrapaphobia, fear 
of thunder and lightning ; aerophobia, fear of be- 
ing in high places; erythrophobia, fear of red (in- 
dicating selfreproach, or shame of some kind) ; 
morbid desires for drink or drugs; pyromania, 
impulse to set fire to things; arithmomania, im- 
pulse to count everything ; onomatomania, impulse 
to repeat one word, and so on. 



THE CAVEMAN FRETTING 167 

Dr. Morton Prince (The Unconscious) described 
the case of a lady who had an intense fear of 
white cats. Characteristically, the lady could not 
account for the fear. It was finally traced, how- 
ever, to an incident which happened thirty-five 
years before, when, at the age of five or six she 
was very much frightened by a white kitten which 
had a fit while she was playing with it. 

A reproach for some act done in childhood, if 
severly repressed, may develop into an anxiety 
neurosis, with hypochondriacal tendencies, and a 
consciousness of shame, which may color one's 
whole outlook on life. This suggests the desir- 
ability of attempting to reason with children when 
they transgress, thereby giving them a rational 
basis for their conduct, instead of censuring with- 
out consideration for the child's feelings. 

The old-fashioned religious training which in- 
volved threats of eternal damnation and all sorts 
of dire punishment for doing this and that, or for 
not doing so and so, must have been the cause of 
unnumbered psychic disturbances built up on re- 
pressions and phobias. It was generally ineffec- 
tive, inasmuch as it apparently did not lessen in- 
fractions of the ethical code, and at the same time 
it established a law of personal conduct based on 
fear — with all its evil concomitants — instead of 
intelligent understanding. 

In Varieties of Religious Experience, William 
James quotes Emerson as saying: "Our young 
people are diseased with the theological problems 



168 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

of original sin, origin of evil, predestination, and 
the like. These never presented a practical diffi- 
culty to any man, never darkened across any 
man's road, who did not go out of his way to seek 
them. They are the soul's mumps and measles 
and whooping-cough." 

There has been during the past few decades a 
pronounced let-up in the old attitude of frighten- 
ing people into an alleged godliness, although, 
taking the world at large, there are still in effect 
too many remnants of this sinister policy. 

The ghosts of ancient fears are still rampant. 
The phantoms of needless worry still haunt untold 
numbers of people. Who will not recognize the 
universal application of the following expressive 
thought from Goethe (Faust) 1 

As water, fire, as poison, steel, 

We dread the blows we never feel, 

And what we never lose is yet by us lamented! " 

Neurotic Negativism 

Because the average neurotic is obsessed by in- 
definite, and sometimes indefinable, fears and 
cravings; because he is unable to adapt himself 
to the demands of reality, he becomes a ready 
victim to negativism. The most common aspect 
of negativism is in stressing, usually in an exag- 
gerated manner, the mistakes and faults of others. 
In fact, it is typical of the neurotic to project his 
own shortcomings upon other persons, i.e., he 



THE CAVEMAN FRETTING 169 

criticises them for failings of which he himself is 
guilty. There is a keen bit of insight evidenced 
in the wise old maxim, "negation is a sign of the 
small mind." 

Petty disparagement is among the most com- 
mon of the popular vices, while ancient wrongs 
may continue unmolested. The reason for this is 
that the latter is sanctified by precedent, and pre- 
cedent is the sacred cow of negativism. 

It is no empty pastime that the neurotic in- 
dulges in when he belittles the efforts of those 
about him. It is a source of substitute gratifica- 
tion to his ego urge, which lacks the energetic 
consistency to achieve a positive form of gratifica- 
tion by creative effort. This "sour grapes" atti- 
tude, or the tendency to pour cold water on the 
accomplishments of others, enhances the neurotic 
critic's estimation of himself. Instead of achiev- 
ing superiority by socially useful acts and deeds, 
he gains a spurious form of superiority by lower- 
ing the prestige of those about him. By pulling 
others down, he fancies himself raised to a higher 
plane. 

Nietzsche, in Human, All Too Human, has ap- 
praised this form of disparagement in the fol- 
lowing words: "In order to maintain their self- 
respect in their own eyes and a certain thorough- 
ness of action, not a few men, perhaps the ma- 
jority, find it absolutely necessary to run down 
and disparage all their acquaintances." 

We are all familiar with the individual who 



170 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

greets every new idea and innovation with scorn. 
He prides himself upon his perspicacity and 
shrewdness — he "has to be shown" — whereas, he 
is merely the embodiment of futile pessimism. He 
is negation personified. His satisfaction is secured 
in passing judgment upon the ideas of the day. 
He promptly condemns them, and by so doing 
proves (to himself) his own superiority over those 
who have gained public notice. 

Negativism is a phase of the neurotic's struggle 
with reality. Indeed, it is often an attempt at 
expression of his personality, but it is a vain at- 
tempt. So much of his energy is consumed in 
internal conflicts that there is no possibility while 
these conflicts last for a positive application, or a 
constructive outlet, of his vital urges. The primi- 
tive side of the personality is fretting under the 
leaden inhibitions and repressions. Community 
interests and the ethical code of the individual do 
not permit the Caveman to express himself in his 
aboriginal fashion, and the lack of adaptation to 
social requirements prevents the alternative of a 
socially acceptable mode of expression. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Jackson, Josephine A. and Helen M. Salisbury, Out- 
witting Our Nerves, New York, 1921. 

Coriat, L, Repressed Emotions, New York, 1920. 

White, William A., Principles of Mental Hygiene, New 
York, 1916. 



THE CAVEMAN FRETTING 171 

White, "William A., Elements of Character Formation, 

New York. 
Fielding, William J., The Puzzle of Personality, 

Girard, Kansas, 1922. 
Pierce, Frederick, Our Unconscious Mind and How to 

Use It. New York, 1922. 



CHAPTEE IX 
THE CAVEMAN SICK 

Hamlet to Laertes — 
Was't Hamlet wrong 'd Laertes? Never Hamlet: 
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, 
And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes, 
Then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it. 
Who does it then? His madness: if 't be so, 
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong 'dj 
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. 

— Shakespeare. 

The Caveman sick has long baffled the sciences 
of therapeutics and the arts of healing. The diffi- 
culty has been primarily in the failure to under- 
stand and account for the duality of human 
nature. Symptoms have been diagnosed almost 
exclusively from the standpoint of conscious ideas 
and ideals, from a superficial observation of the 
functions of the vital organs, and without any 
adequate conception of the basic unconscious 
forces upon these organs. 

As a result, myriads of patients have been 
treated for functional disturbances, and even 
organic diseases, when the trouble has been in 
psychic maladjustments of the most elemental 
character, rather than with the physical organism. 
Of course, these disorders emanating from 

172 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 173 

the unconscious psychic processes are reflected 
in pronounced physical symptoms, which in 
turn are in themselves distressing. They be- 
come, in fact, the recognized seat of far-reaching 
disabilities, and practically all attention has been 
given to this apparent causation, while the real 
cause remained hidden. 

Some of the lesser effects of unconscious con- 
flicts and repressions have been alluded to in the 
preceding chapter. Every individual experiences 
these in a degree, as there is always a certain 
amount of conflict between the primitive bio- 
logical urges and the demands of organized 
society (and one's ethical concepts). Normally, 
however, there is the possibility of a satisfactory 
adjustment and adaptation, insuring a well- 
balanced personality and a healthy, useful life. 

The Libido 

It is when the vital, energetic factor of the 
organism, which Freud terms the libido, becomes 
blocked, that a conflict ensues. This dynamic life- 
force must have an outlet, or it will play havoc 
with the psychic processes, with the resultant 
physical symptoms already referred to. 

Dr. Eduard Hitschmann has remarked that a 
dammed-up libido hnnts out a weak place and 
breaks through, expressing itself in neurotic sub- 
stitute gratification. The point to remember is 
that it will express itself, if the subject is at all 



174 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

vital, so it would seem to be the rational thing 
to direct it into some useful, socially acceptable 
course. The alternatives are outlets through 
vicious, anti-social channels, or neurotic "substi- 
tute gratification", that is destructive to the per- 
sonality and a trial to those with whom the victim 
comes in contact. 

The ceaseless flow of impulses or discharge of 
psychic energy which animates the human organ- 
ism, becomes involved in conflicts through the 
mechanism known as the pleasure principle and 
the reality principle. 

According to the first principle, we instinctively 
accept the pleasurable and reject the painful, 
without regard to the ultimate results. This is 
the expression of the Caveman in his pristine 
glory. In any organized society, in fact in any 
group-life, a complete acceptance of the pleasure 
principle would result in the individual's quick 
destruction (unless cared for as an infant, or 
confined as an adult), because he would be in con- 
stant conflict with his environment. This prin- 
ciple in its true sense eliminates all consideration 
for others, hence it is anti-social, egotistical. In 
a modified form, of course, i.e., in a socially 
acceptable manner, it is necessary for every indi- 
vidual to express his primitive personality more 
often than we may imagine. 

The reality principle demands that we accept 
some painful experiences, because in so doing we 
adjust ourselves to the requirements of social life. 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 175 

It involves consideration for the rights of others. 
It is the mainspring of altruistic and idealistic 
actions — the highest expressions of the cultural 
personality. 

The pleasure principle has its biological founda- 
tion in the life-urge of the individual. It is indi- 
vidualistic. It represents the primary, original 
form of mental activity. It is innate and spon- 
taneous in its manifestations, and is character- 
istic of the earliest stages of human development, 
both in the individual and the race. It is typically 
expressed in the mental life of the infant, and 
to a less extent in the savage. In the infant, noth- 
ing but its own desires concern it, and it demands 
with unqualified insistence their fulfilment in the 
shape of food, warmth, petty attentions and any 
object it may notice. 

The reality principle is the expression of the 
welfare and continuity of the group. It is social. 
If the individual were not capable of acting upon 
the reality principle to a very large degree 
throughout life, he would as a consequence cease 
to exist. 

Man must realize the uncompromising force of 
sea, air, fire, gravity, wild animals, in order to 
maintain life. He must recognize the claims, 
needs and superior force of his fellow-men, even 
in the most primitive society or community. 

Thus in every act of living, even without think- 
ing about it, we are gathering consciously and 
unconsciously a working knowledge of the reality 



176 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

principle. It is exemplified in the old adage of 
"learning by experience." 

It is the inevitable conflict between these two 
principles in our psychic stream that is the cause 
of repressions. And repressions which become so 
severe that they cause serious disharmony in the 
Unconscious result in hysteria, neuroses, psy- 
choses, insanity. This is another way of saying 
that, because he has been deprived of adequate 
expression, the Caveman is sick. 

Society has shut off the opportunity for the 
functioning of the primitive personality in its 
original form; and the neurotic individual's irra- 
tional training has made difficult or impossible a 
form of expression that is socially acceptable. So 
the Old Adam breaks out in the disguise of 
aggravating physical symptoms or mental aber- 
rations. 

Physical Symptoms of Neuroses 

Only a few of the physical disabilities that may 
be simulated by psychoneuroses, as a result of 
intense repressions of natural urges, are heart 
disorders, headache, rapid respiration, hay 
fever, constipation, diarrhoea, indigestion, nausea, 
vomiting, insomnia, diabetes, menstrual troubles, 
impotence, backache, asthma, sore throat, ab- 
normal motor activities, blushing, not to mention 
many less common. 

Some very unusual physical symptoms also 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 177 

have been definitely traced to hysterical sources. 
There is the case of a woman patient who was 
apparently suffering from a tumor. The swelling 
was present in a most pronounced form, and the 
pain severe. An operation was decided upon, and 
on administering the ether, the swelling vanished. 
The " tumor" had disappeared. It was an hys- 
terical "growth." It is probable that some sensi- 
tive complex was touched on a certain occasion 
when she had read or heard of a tumor, with the 
result that the idea obsessed her, and her Uncon- 
scious responded to her fears by counterfeiting 
a "tumor." 

Morbid experiences of early childhood, or in- 
fancy, often contribute to the most puzzling cases 
of neuroses in adulthood. The incident has been 
repressed out of consciousness because of its un- 
pleasant nature. The impressions it has created, 
however, remain active below the level of con- 
sciousness, and the resultant festering psychic 
discharge is accompanied by various pathological 
symptoms. 

Pflster mentions the case of a girl sixteen years 
old who suffered regularly at her menstrual 
periods from vomiting. It was found that when 
a child she had gained the impression that chil- 
dren are born through the mouth. After enlight- 
enment in this particular, the symptom imme- 
diately ceased and did not reappear. 

Instances of phantom pregnancy have been 
known where the patient manifested all the symp- 



178 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

toms of the parturient condition, even in an 
advanced stage. This, like countless other forms 
of hysteria, is due to obsessive thoughts on the 
subject until the expectation becomes fulfilled in 
a symbolical way. 

Disturbance of Sexual Processes 

The neuroses have been divided into the true 
neuroses and the psycho-neuroses. 

The true neuroses are neurasthenia and anxiety 
neuroses. According to Freud, these diseases are 
caused by a disturbance of the sexual processes, 
which determine the formation and utilization of 
the sexual libido. 

He summarizes the situation in the following 
words: "We can hardly avoid perceiving these 
processes as being, in their last analysis, chemical 
in their nature, so that we recognize in the true 
neuroses the somatic effect of disturbances in the 
sexual metabolism, while in the psycho-neuroses, 
we recognize besides the psychic effects of the 
same disturbances. The resemblance of the 
neuroses to the manifestations of intoxication and 
abstinence, following certain alkaloids, and to 
Basedow's and Addison's diseases obtrudes itself 
clinically without any further ado, and just as 
these two diseases should no longer be described 
as nervous diseases, so will the genuine neuroses 
soon have to be removed from this class, despite 
their nomenclature." 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 179 

In the opinion of Freud, neurasthenia is due 
to exaggerated sexual self-gratification which 
weakens the individual's will-power by making 
the goal too easily obtainable, affords inadequate 
relief, diminishes potency and, by ignoring too 
many psychological sources of excitement, may 
cause physical injury. The victim thus becomes 
anti-social and betrays the result of his vain strife 
against passion in many ways, lack of will power, 
doubts about the possibility of achievement and 
self-reproaches. 

The usual symptoms of anxiety neurosis are 
general irritability, exaggerated visual and audi- 
tory sensations which are frequently the cause of 
sleeplessness, anxious expectations of accidents, 
death, insanity, accompanied in some cases by a 
disturbance of one or more bodily functions, 
respiration, circulation, glandular functions, and 
so on. Dizziness, which never quite leads to com- 
plete loss of equilibrium, is one of the most char- 
acteristic symptoms of anxiety neurosis. 

The relation between the general lack of ra- 
tional sex enlightenment and the wide prevalence 
of neurotic disturbances is seen when we consider 
Freud's contention that the symptoms of anxiety 
neurosis are substitutes for the specific action 
which follows natural sexual excitement and which 
is accompanied by acceleration of respiration, pal- 
pitation, sweating and congestion. 

Thus it is found that men who resort to un- 
gratifying forms of sexual activity, and women 



180 THE CAVEMANf WITHIN US 

left unsatisfied by the impotence or ejaculatio 
pr&cox of their husbands, are often sufferers 
from anxiety neurosis. 

Sometimes this result will not become manifest 
for years in people who have unsatisfactory 
sexual relations. However, when they are con- 
fronted with a critical situation or are forced to 
undergo a trying ordeal, an anxiety neurosis sud- 
denly settles upon them. For years, they have 
been preparing the ground-work for this condi- 
tion, and it requires only the stimulus of a trouble- 
some experience to start off the mechanism of a 
pronounced neurosis. 

Anxiety neurosis, too, is commonly attributed 
to over-work. This phase of the question has 
been touched upon in the preceding chapter. 
Freud again offers a suggestion pertinent in this 
domain when he states that the physician who 
informs a busy man that he has overworked him- 
self, or an active woman that her household duties 
have been too burdensome, should tell his patients 
they are sick, not because they have sought to 
discharge duties which for a civilized brain are 
comparatively easy, but because they have 
neglected, if not stifled, their sexual life while 
attending to their duties. 

The psycho-neuroses are hysteria and obses- 
sions. They are repeatedly traced back to erotic 
experiences in childhood; hence, to the influence 
of unconscious or repressed idea-complexes. 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 181 

Hysteria is more psychic, and neurasthenia 
more toxic — but both have a sexual basis. 

Anxiety hysteria is frequently associated with 
hysteria proper. In this case, the anxiety arises 
not only from physical sources, but from a part 
of the ungratified desire which embraces a num- 
ber of the complexes. 

As the norma] mind reacts to danger through 
anxiety, it may be considered analogous that in 
this case the mind is defending itself against 
fancied internal danger. The psychic mechanism 
is the same as in hysteria, except that it does not 
lead to conversion into physical symptoms. 
Anxiety hysteria invariably tends to develop a 
phobia. 

The obsessional neurosis is featured by con- 
stant ambivalence, or the experiencing of opposite 
feelings at the same time, such as love and hatred 
for the same person, although one of these emo- 
tions may dominate in the Conscious and the 
other in the Unconscious. 

Hysteria is more peculiar to the female sex, 
and obsessional neurosis to the male sex. 



The Psychoses 

In the psychoses, we find widely varying de- 
grees of insanity, whereas in the neuroses we may 
observe every conceivable degree of mental varia- 
tion from almost normal rationality down to the 



182 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

borderland of irresponsibility, with frequent 
lapses over the brink. 

Dr. Alfred Adler emphasizes the difference be- 
tween the neuroses and psychoses in the follow- 
ing words: " Longing for an unattainable ideal 
is at the bottom of both. Defeat or fear of defeat 
causes the weaker individual to seek a substitute 
for his real goal. At this point begins the process 
of psychic transformation designated as a 
neurosis. In the neurosis, the pursuit of the ficti- 
tious goal does not lead to an open conflict with 
reality, the neurotic simply considering reality 
as a very disturbing element, as he does in 
neurasthenia, hypochondria, anxiety, compulsion 
neurosis and hysteria. In the psychoses, the 
guiding masculine fiction appears disguised in 
pictures and symbols of infantile origin. The 
patient no longer acts as though he wished to be 
masculine, to be above, but as though he had 
already attained those ends." 

In short, the neurotic is grieved by not being 
all-powerful. The psychotic is all-powerful, and 
attempts to force his environment to share his 
belief. 

In order to obtain a true conception of the 
psychoses (insanity) — which condition is most 
literally the Caveman sick — it is necessary to com- 
pare them with certain attitudes of the Caveman 
in the "normal" individual. In the insane patient, 
we find a prolonged or permanent dissociation in 
which the primitive personality is in the ascend- 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 183 

ency. Normally the primitive personality asserts 
itself unmasked in dreams, and in a number of 
more restricted ways that have been described. 

We find that the mind of the insane patient 
functions in his waking hours in a manner quite 
identical with the mind of the sane person in his 
sleep. 

In our dreams we are temporarily irrational, 
illogical, supremely egotistical and self-centered. 
These characteristics are constant with the insane 
(or intermittent in cases where the victim is sub- 
ject to insane attacks with lucid intervals). 

Kant remarked that "the lunatic is a dreamer 
ih the waking state." The same thought was ex- 
pressed by A. Krauss, the psychiatrist, in slightly 
different language, namely: "Insanity is a dream 
with the senses awake." 

We are told by Wundt, the noted psychologist, 
that "as a matter of fact, we may in the dream 
ourselves live through almost all the symptoms 
which we meet in the insane asylum." Schopen- 
hauer termed the dream a short insanity, and 
insanity a long dream. 

In convalescence from insanity, it has been 
observed that while the functions of the day are 
normal, the dream life may belong to the psy- 
choses. 

Another characteristic of insanity is the tend- 
ency toward infantile regression. This is also 
typical, to a lesser extent, in the neurotic. In 
fact, insanity, except when due to disintegration 



184 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

of the brain structure (such as may result from 
syphilitic lesion, alcoholic deterioration, tumor or 
other malignant growth) is essentially an extreme 
neurotic condition. It has all the symptoms, in 
an exaggerated form, of the various neuroses. 
It is almost invariably the neurotic, barring the 
cases due to physiological causes as indicated 
above, who become insane as they gradually lose 
their grip on the vitals of reality. 

Graduations of Insanity 

We are again impressed with the fact that there 
is no hard and fast dividing line between the sane 
and the insane. Even people considered highly 
rational have fits of rage that evidence all the 
features of insanity while they last. Individuals 
with pretty good practical minds sometimes do 
some very irrational or foolish things when seized 
by an unaccountable impulse — even to the extent 
of committing murder or suicide, as has been 
known to happen. 

It is understood, of course, that we are dis- 
cussing acquired insanity, known as dementia, as 
congenital mental defectiveness (idiocy, im- 
becility, etc.) is altogether outside of the scope of 
this work. 

As a general rule, the more thoroughly insane 
the person is, the more infantile he becomes in 
his actions. Cases are not uncommon where the 
victim regresses so far, and becomes so detached 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 185 

from all interest in life that he lies down, utterly 
disregarding his environment and all the bodily 
functions, even assuming perhaps the prenatal 
position of the fetus. 

The biological aspect of the regression to in- 
sanity is also apparent. If the prehistoric trog- 
lodyte could be transported to our midst, his 
every act would in our eyes brand him as insane. 
He would be absolutely out of harmony with his 
twentieth century environment, and in all prob- 
ability completely unadaptable. In the paleo- 
lithic age, he may have been a useful member of 
his primitive community, but in the maze of a 
highly intricate society, he would be as useless as 
the most hopeless inmate of a modern Bedlam. 

In other chapters, we have reviewed some of 
the ineradicable biological memories which lie 
dormant under our cultural veneer, and which are 
revived when the conditions are favorable. What 
is more plausible than that the human organism 
(considering it as a physical and psychic entity), 
when the faculty of rational discretion is removed, 
should revert to the uncensored mode of conduct 
of ages past? Mankind's ancient biological 
heritage is then revived in its primordial form 
with the loss of the rationally developed faculties. 

It is always an unbearable emotional shock, or 
series of shocks, which produces the trauma or 
psychic wound resulting in insanity. There is 
invariably present, of course, the neurotic pre- 
disposition which causes the subject to fall so 



186 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

readily a victim. The more adaptable person 
adjusts himself to situations which produce a pro- 
found psychic shock in the neurotic. The mechan- 
ism is usually repression, and symbolization (a 
powerful factor in the unconscious) plays an 
important part in the patient's irrational expres- 
sions. 

Practically all types and degrees of insanity 
afford proof of some repression at work, although 
the conflict is often so deeply buried that the 
primary cause may not be found. The symboliza- 
tion, the outward manifestation of the psychosis, 
however, frequently gives a clue. 

Dr. C. Gr. Jung, the Zurich analytic psychol- 
ogist, has instanced a case in which his patient 
manifested a high degree of symbolization of the 
"stereotyped action" order. An old woman, who 
had been an inmate of the institution for many 
years, occupied her whole waking time in a single 
stereotyped performance. She was never heard 
to speak, nor had she shown the slightest interest 
in anything that occurred around her. She sat 
all day long in a huddled position, continuously 
moving her arms and hands in a manner sug- 
gestive of a shoemaker engaged in sewing shoes. 
All her waking hours were absorbed in these 
movements which were repeated with unvarying 
regularity and monotony from one year's end to 
another. 

When the woman's history was investigated it 
was found that as a young girl she had been 



THE CAVEMAN SICK 187 

engaged to be married, and that the engagement 
was suddenly broken off. The great emotional 
shock resulting from this occurrence completely- 
unbalanced her mind, and she remained in this 
state of insanity during the remainder of her life. 
It was further learned that her faithless lover 
had been a shoemaker by trade. 

It has been said that ideas are the most potent 
forces with which mankind deals. Constructive 
ideas, carried into effect, are responsible for 
every bit of the world's progress. But, on the 
other hand, false, destructive ideas, or negative 
ideas, have been responsible for the greater part 
of the misery that has afflicted man. And it is 
the false, irrational ideas that have been incul- 
cated in the minds of the young, and kept on being 
hammered into the minds of the matured, that 
are responsible for the ills in the psychic domain, 
no less than in the physical world. 

Most neuroses and psychoses are diseased ideas 
(or false ideas which have created a diseased 
state of mind) that have been absorbed in the 
experience of the individual. Chiefly they have 
been kicked in by organized society. And with a 
sort of fatalistic retribution, they in time turn 
upon society and wreak their vengeance. 

Man has remained in ignorance of natural laws, 
particularly those relating to his instinctive 
modes of action, and he has paid the price. He 
has ignored and abused, or attempted to sup- 
press, the elemental part of himself, his primitive 



188 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

personality, with the result that the Caveman 
within has thrown on the organism the burden 
of a sick and disordered patient. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Freud, Sigmund, Selected Papers on Hysteria and Other 
Psychoneuroses, Nervous and Mental Disease Mono- 
graph Series No. 4. 

Hitschmann, Eduard, Freud's Theory of the Neuroses, 
New York, 1917. 

White, William A., Outlines of Psychiatry, Nervous 
and Mental Disease Monograph Series No. 1. 

Jelliffe, Smith Ely, Technique of Psychoanalysis, 
Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series 
No. 26. 



CHAPTEE X 
THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 

Heaven's but the Vision of fulfilled Desire, 
And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire 

Cast on the Darkness into which ourselves 
So late emerg'd from, shall so soon expire. 

— Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat. 

Religious traditions are undoubtedly the oldest 
of all existing traditions. The recognized essen- 
tials of religion have changed little because the 
primitive personality of man has changed little. 
And it is the primitive personality, the emotional 
side of human nature, that is religious in the com- 
monly accepted sense of the word. 

The emotions are essentially static, expressing 
themselves normally along the stereotyped grooves 
of biological habit and social tradition. On the 
other hand, it is the intellect (the cultural per- 
sonality) that is dynamic, progressive. The con- 
flict between intellectual progress and theology, 
i.e., organized religion, is proverbial. The older 
and more orthodox churches tacitly admit this con- 
flict — although they may deny impeding scientific 
progress — by cherishing their ancient dogma, even 
to the extent, as some of them do, of claiming they 
"never change.' ' 

189 



190 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

The oldest form of religious expression we know 
of is Nature worship in its many phases. It is 
probable that the first gleaming of intelligence 
stood in awe before the mysteries of nature, and 
crudely speculated as to the source of life. 

There seems to be nothing visible or imaginable 
that man has not worshipped at some period. He 
has sanctified an infinite variety of objects of na- 
ture, including animals and fishes, trees and 
stones, flowers and fruits, the sun, moon, planets 
and the stars, and Man himself. There are still 
savage tribes in remote parts of the earth who 
follow some variation of this primordial practice. 

Phallic Worship 

Among the earliest known forms of religious 
worship is Phallicism, in which the generative 
organs are adored. There are still in existence 
remarkable specimens of original phallic symbols, 
and the extent which this symbolization has been 
woven into the arts and architecture, and the 
literature, languages and traditions of the race, 
is beyond reckoning. A great amount of data on 
this subject has been collected by Dr. Lee Alex- 
ander Stone, an eminent American authority on 
phallic lore to whom I am indebted for numerous 
helpful suggestions in the preparation of the ma- 
terial in this chapter. 

Within the period of early civilization, Phal- 
licism was practiced by the Egyptians, Phoeni- 



THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 191 

cians, Pompeians and Greeks. Phallic images are 
found among the ruins of these ancient races. 
This form of nature worship had its variation in 
the belief in the fertilizing effect of the sun and 
rain upon the earth, and in the association of 
human sexual interests with the fertility of fields. 
The rites connected with the worship of Baal and 
Ashtaroth (gods mentioned in the Bible) had their 
basis in the belief that growth of vegetation was 
favourably influenced by sexual practices. 

The cross, one of the most venerated of all 
religious symbols, is to be found on ancient monu- 
ments throughout Egypt and India, as well as in 
other parts of the world. Before white men set 
foot upon the Western Hemisphere, tribes of both 
North and South American Indians used the cross 
as a symbol in their worship. 

Phallic symbols have been found in widely scat- 
tered parts of the American continent ; large stone 
phalli having been dug up in Tennessee, Georgia, 
California, and other places in the United States, 
British Columbia and Mexico. Many of these 
specimens are in the National Museum at Wash- 
ington. 

Talismans and amulets carved in the image of 
the phallus were common in the ancient world. 
It was customary among the higher classes to 
carve them out of precious metals and gem stones 
in exact likeness of the organs they symbolized. 
The wearing of these symbols was believed to add 
to the virility of the wearer, and to ward off 



192 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

danger. The survival of this belief (at least an 
unconscious belief, when not conscious) is evi- 
denced in the continued popularity of charms, 
talismans and amulets down to the present day. 

Phallic Symbolism in Architecture 

General J. G. R. Forlong, in his Rivers of Life, 
refers to two mounds in Kentucky that are un- 
doubtedly of phallic origin, and compares them 
with phallic mounds in Egypt. The pyramids and 
obelisks of the latter country are also known to 
be phallic representations. 

There are many phallic symbols perpetuated in 
the finest architecture, and it is significant, in con- 
sideration of our present subject, that nowhere 
are they found in more profusion than in modern, 
as well as ancient, churches and cathedrals. The 
steeple and spire are distinctly phallic in origin, 
so that in these essentials to the modern church, 
we find preserved symbols of nature worship that 
long preceded Christianity or any other existing 
religion. 

There is a conventional design of doors and 
windows and ornamental apertures in churches 
that is an almost faithful duplication of the primi- 
tive symbols of the external female genitals. The 
extent that other phallic symbolization is ex- 
pressed in minor details of church ornamentation 
quite beggars description. 

Among the richest fields of phallic symbolism 



THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 193 

to be found today are the cemeteries. As the 
religious influence is paramount in cemetery 
monumental decorations, we are once more 
brought face to face with the survival of the most 
ancient of symbols. Modern man has solved many 
of the mysteries of nature, but on the question of 
the first cause of life, and in facing the ultimate 
physical reaction of death, he stands in practically 
the same helpless position as did his prehistoric 
ancestor. And, instinctively, unconsciously, he 
has acted similarly to his early progenitors. The 
monuments and shafts and crosses and conven- 
tional ornamentation of the cemetery, with their 
unbroken traditions from early antiquity, are the 
mute expression of his wonder over the riddle of 
creation and of his hope for immortality. 

The use of the horseshoe as a symbol of protec- 
tion against "bad luck" had its origin in the an- 
cient custom of using the figure of the female 
organ to ward off evil influences. Even down to 
the Middle Ages in Western Europe, it was the 
custom to nail this symbol over the entrance to 
buildings as a protection against the dreaded evil 
eye and witchcraft. 

Among the Arabs of Northern Africa, it was a 
common practice to place over the door of the 
house or tent the generative organ of a mare, cow 
or female camel as a protecting talisman. As the 
figure of this member is more susceptible to muti- 
lation in form than that of the male, especially 
in the crude workmanship of untrained handymen, 



194 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

it gradually assumed shapes quite far removed 
from the original model, but nevertheless true in 
its symbolization. 

It is plain that the figure of the female organ 
readily lent itself to the rude form of a horseshoe, 
and in time was substituted by the real horseshoe, 
which we so often find nailed over doors. Certain 
triangles, triple loops and other similar decorative 
devices and architectural ornaments are doubtless 
variations of the same primitive object. 



Universality of Symbols 

Primitive man and early civilized man formu- 
lated their ideas in symbolical pictures, and to this 
day symbols are the natural language of our 
primitive personality. In the chapter on dreams, 
the significance of symbolism has been mentioned. 

The erotic expressions of the ancients were so 
little disguised that the sexual aspect of their 
symbols is almost always obvious. It can be per- 
ceived in their myths, legends and folk-stories. 
Today, the basic motive of surviving symbols is 
more concealed, although the sexual phase will in- 
variably be found with a little scrutiny. 

To recur to dream representation, in the phan- 
tasies of our sleep, the human body is often in- 
dicated by a building, house or church. The male 
body is represented by flat surfaces, smooth walls 
over which one may climb, and the female body 



THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 195 

by set tables, walls with balconies, mounds, hills, 
a rolling landscape. 

The male genitals may be symbolized by various 
elongated objects, sticks, tree-trunks, pillars, tow- 
ers, steeples, fruits or vegetables of like shape, 
and birds, fishes, snakes and all sharp weapons. 
The female genitals are represented by shoes, 
boxes, caves, stoves, windows, doors, closets and 
gardens. 

Poetry and art which call, to so great an extent, 
upon the resources of the unconscious mind, 
furnish excellent examples of symbolization that 
rival some of the phantastic dreams of our sleep. 1 
The following lines from a poem, I Have Been 
Through The Gates, by Charlotte Mew (Macmillan 
Co., 1921), offer a perfect illustration of pure sym- 
bolization, with the sexual significance strikingly 
in evidence : 

His heart, to me was a place of places and 

pinnacles and shining towers; 
I saw it then as we see things in dreams — I 

do not remember how long I slept ; 
I remember the trees, and the high, white 

walls, and how the sun was always on the 

towers ; 
The walls are standing today, and the gates ; 

I have been through the gates; I have 

groped, I have crept 
Back, back. ... 

1 See Morike 's poem The Maiden 's First Love Song, page 89, 
Chapter IV. 



196 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Life today, no less than in the past, is made 
brighter for the Caveman by examples of sym- 
bolization that we scarcely recognize as such. 
These acts satisfy onr unconscious desires for 
primitive expression, often without the least con- 
scious inkling of their real underlying significance. 
For instance, we throw rice and old shoes at new- 
lyweds without comprehending the true meaning 
of the act. Consciously we are following an es- 
tablished custom, but unconsciously we are doing 
something more important. We are giving ex- 
pression in a symbolical way to a wish that is quite 
appropriate for the occasion, and which our con- 
ventional ethics would not permit us to express in 
a more direct way. 

During all ages and in the folklore of all races, 
shoes have been a symbol of the female genitals, 
and rice (or wheat or other common cereal) the 
symbol of the male fructifying seed. Hence, we 
unconsciously indicate the sexual character of the 
new relationship with the normal outcome of fruit- 
fulness or prolificacy, which the conventions of 
modern society would not permit us openly to 
mention. 

Symbolism in Ceremonies 

Many existing formalities in connection with 
marriage are acts of symbolism descended from 
remote antiquity. The wedding ring is a symbol 
of what once was the yoke of man's absolute 



THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 197 

authority over the newly acquired spouse. The 
orange blossoms — significantly from one of the 
most prolific of all fruit-bearing trees — is plainly 
a symbol meant to bring f ruitfulness to the union. 
The father or other male member of the family 
usually "gives the bride away," which is reminis- 
cent of the time when woman had literally no say 
in the matter. The honeymoon tour, beginning 
with the hasty departure after the ceremony, sym- 
bolizes the act of carrying the bride away — which 
was once a procedure involving the use of 
strategy, force and flight. 

There is also a symbolic significance in the 
betrothal, and a high degree of it in the rites of 
baptism, and even more in the ceremonies and 
obsequies performed over the dead. 



Symbolism in Numbers 

Certain numbers have exercised a profound in- 
fluence over the human mind, without regard to 
time or race, as also have certain characteriza- 
tions. These have been emphasized in religions, 
and their roal origin is in their mystical attraction 
to the primitive mind. The number "three" is 
notable. There is the Holy Trinity; the Three 
Wise Men; Jesus, Mary and Joseph; Christ and 
the two thieves; Faith, Hope and Charity. The 
Crucifixion took place at three o 'clock ; the Resur- 
rection occurred on the third day; Peter denied 



198 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Christ three times; Peter had a vision thrice re- 
peated (Acts x). 

The note of importance or of finality which this 
number carries leads to its constant emphasis in 
daily life. Only to mention a few instances, we 
have "the third and last warning", "ready, set, 
go", "ready, aim, fire", "three strikes and out", 
and a drowning person "comes up three times", 
the proverbial cat has "nine lives" (three times 
three), etc. 

At a very early period, man was believed to be 
a trinity, made up of "body, soul and spirit." The 
"salt, sulphur and mercury" of the ancient al- 
chemists undoubtedly referred to man as being 
composed of a trinity of elements. And this cen- 
tral concept has been projected upon the Divinity. 
In this connection, Schelling says: "The philos- 
ophy of mythology proves that a trinity of divine 
potentialities is the root from which have grown 
the religious ideas of all nations of any importance 
that are known to us. ' ' 

Another number that always has had a special 
significance is "seven." In Revelation, we find 
mention of seven candlesticks, a book with seven 
seals, seven stars, seven angels with seven horns, 
a dragon with seven heads, seven vials, and seven 
plagues; and John addressed a document to the 
seven churches of Asia. 

In everyday life, we speak of the seven seas, the 
seven wonders of the world. Salome wore seven 
veils, the week has seven days, people reach their 



THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 199 

majority at three times seven years, and the al- 
lotted age of man is seven decades. 

Abstract ideas and institutions are given per- 
sonal names symbolic of the parent image. The 
Church is the "Mother," also the "Bride." There 
are the "Heavenly Father" and the "Holy 
Mother." These are analogous, in nationalistic 
characterization, to such terms as ' ' Mother Coun- 
try", "Fatherland", "Uncle Sam." 

Symbols — Language of Primitive Personality 

It is very likely that the Church fathers, in 
adopting ancient rites to their ceremonies, acted 
largely from unconscious motives rather than 
from conscious imitation. Symbolization is the 
language that is universally understood by the 
primitive personality. The human race has al- 
ways clung to established traditions, and when 
one system of society has succeeded another, it 
has invariably utilized much of the formality of 
the preceding order, even though there may have 
been a radical change in principle. So it is that 
religious institutions, following the course of all 
organic social life, have built their structure 
around the emotional life of the people, utilizing 
those traditions that had become intrenched in the 
primitive mind. 

There is no other social agency that offers man- 
kind so free an outlet for a symbolical expression 
of his primitive nature as religion. Not only are 



200 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

the architectural features, in a symbolical form, 
associated with humanity's earliest devotions, but 
the whole atmosphere of ecclesiasticism is steeped 
in the Past. The sacred books cover a period of 
history when the social organization was compara- 
tively simple, man's mode of life elemental, and 
his abstract thoughts were expressed in mytho- 
logical concepts and allegorical pictures. 

The theological structure of the Old Testament 
is largely an Hebraic mythology, influenced by 
the mythologies of preceding and contemporary 
peoples. Its ethical code is strikingly primordial, 
swift vengeance transcending the element of com- 
passion or human sympathy. The spirit of re- 
prisal is paramount, both in dealing with individ- 
uals and nations, and this same hectic passion 
for inflicting punishment was projected upon its 
deity — Jehovah. An ardor for direct and sum- 
mary vengeance is the attribute of all mythological 
gods. 

While the New Testament, through the benign 
influence of Jesus, sounds a more gentle note in 
man's relation with man, the entire theme repre- 
sents a many-sided picture of rich symbolism in a 
dim, faraway background. This dream-like prop- 
erty is a powerful attraction to the primitive na- 
ture of modern man. 

So it is that institutional religion still retains 
a potent influence by symbolically taking man bach 
into the past, and offering him a paradise in the 
future. The first satisfies the primitive tendency 



THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 201 

toward regression, and the second the primitive 
desire of the ego for immortality. Those religions 
which are the richest in symbolism have attained 
the greatest measure of power and have been most 
successful in holding their following. 

Oral demonstration in religion is another phase 
of emotionalism that vouchsafes an outlet for 
psychic pressure. Song, confession and public 
declaration of faith are the principal media of 
expression. Music is the most effective of all 
stimuli for readily awakening strong emotional 
response, either with respect to religious worship, 
martial combat or sensuality. Again, it will be 
rioted that all of these are elemental expressions 
of the primitive personality. 

That confession affords a means of relief of 
psychic or emotional tension is undeniable. The 
murderer experiences a profound relief when he 
has divulged his secret guilt, even though he is tor- 
mented by the knowledge of the law's retribution. 
Even the latter is less unbearable than the fester- 
ing consciousness of unacknowledged guilt. The 
Catholic secures peace of mind through confession 
to his priest; the Protestant by unburdening his 
conscience in prayer. 

In many sects, emotional outbursts are a regular 
part of the services. There are some important 
and well-known " shouting" sects, not to mention 
a host of smaller ones. No one would contend 
that there is any intellectual benefit derived from 
these demonstrations. The appeal is purely primi- 



202 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

tive, and the response purely emotional. Never- 
theless, to people whose lives are otherwise emo- 
tionally starved, the relief of psychic tension af- 
forded by voluble religious expression fulfils a 
fundamental need. The primitive personality re- 
ceives at least a partial outlet for its constantly 
accumulating energy. 

Sometimes an example of effusive religious 
ecstasy will be found that may be considered either 
saintly and sublime, or dementia, depending upon 
the historical period in which it is manifested. 

Southey, in his Life of Wesley, instances one of 
the most rapturous cases of conversion on record 
— that of a young woman in her twentieth year, 
a disciple of Wesley's, whom she called her "dear 
and most honoured father in Christ. ' ' The change 
in her condition began with a "violent agony of 
about four hours' duration." "Then," said the 
patient, "I began to feel the Spirit of God bear- 
ing witness with my spirit that I was born of God. 
Oh, mighty, powerful, happy change! The love 
of God was shed abroad in my heart, and a flame 
kindled there with pains so violent, yet so very 
ravishing, that my body was almost torn asunder. 
I sweated; I trembled; I fainted; I sang. Oh, I 
thought my head was a fountain of water. I was 
dissolved in love. My beloved is mine and I am 
Ms. He has all charms ; he has ravished my heart ; 
he is my comforter, my friend, my all. He is now 
in his garden feeding among the lilies. Oh, I am 
sick of love. He is altogether lovely, the chiefest 



THE CAVEMAN'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE 203 

among ten thousand. Oh, how Jesus fills, Jesus 
extends, Jesus overwhelms the soul in which He 
dwells. ' ' 

This declaration of faith is remarkable for more 
than the display of obviously sincere enthusiasm. 
It is a perfect example of symbolic picturization, 
with a pronounced erotic coloring, as must be 
plain to anyone who has made even the most 
superficial study of symbolism. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Swisher, W. S., Religion and the New Psychology, Bos- 
ton, 1920. 

James, William, Varieties of Religious Experience, New 
York. 

Carpenter, Edward, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New 
York, 1920. 

Freud, Sigmund, Totem and Taboo, New York, 1918. 

Lay, Wilfrid, Man's Unconscious Spirit, New York, 
1921. 

Forlong, J. G. R., Rivers of Life or Faiths of Men. 

Jennings, Hargrave, Phallicism. 

Knight, Payne, The Worship of Priapus. 

Westropp, Hodder M., Primitive Symbolism. 

Stone, Lee A., Phallic Symbolism, "The Urologic and 
Cutaneous Review," St. Louis, December, 1920. 

Jung, C. G., Psychology of the Unconscious, New York, 
1917. 



CHAPTEE XI 
THE CAVEMAN REBELS 

It is proof of great thought to separate thought from 
habit. — Cicero. 

Theee is a fundamental, restless, irrepressible 
urge that pervades the human organism, that 
characterizes the human being. It has been called 
the energetic constitution of man, the prime mover 
of human action. Freud has termed it the libido; 
Bergson, the elan vital; Jung the Jiorme. It is 
essentially a craving. It is the craving for Life, 
for Love, for Action. Basically it is primitive, 
and it retains its elemental features at all times, 
although it is capable of great social adaptation, 
which has been called, for the want of a better 
term, sublimation. It is the spirit of the Caveman. 

It expresses itself in every human being, normal 
and abnormal, but in widely diverging channels 
and in very uneven degrees of effectiveness. I 
have said that it is irrepressible, to which objec- 
tion may be taken because of the conformity of 
the multitudes. As a matter of fact, it cannot be 
repressed. If the attempt is made at one point, 
it will break out in another. The spirit of con- 
formity that is fostered is compensated for in the 

204 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 205 

irrational attitudes and actions, and the pathology 
of everyday life. 

Nietzsche, with his vision of the Superman, and 
his struggle — almost successful — to be one, called 
this human dynamic the ' i will-to-power. ' ' Alfred 
Adler refers to it as the ' ' wish-to-be-above. " It 
is both ; it is the Ego. 

The Ego Urge 

In order to understand the working of such an 
intangible, mysterious force as the ego, it is neces- 
sary to study its action under certain specific con- 
ditions. We cannot see electricity, but we can ob- 
serve the operation of motors and machinery, we 
can visualize the arc and incandescent lights, and 
watch a great many other manifestations of the 
elusive electric current. So it is with the vital, 
invisible current — Life itself. 

Adler 's theory of organ inferiority and its phys- 
ical compensation opens up vast possibilities for 
research in this domain. In considering Adler 's 
hypothesis, it is well to bear in mind the functions 
of the autonomic nervous system and of the en- 
docrine (ductless) glands, referred to in Chap- 
ter II. 

Few people are born with or, if so, long retain, 
a perfectly adjusted organism. For example, we 
know that poor eyesight and defective hearing are 
commonplace. Countless numbers of people have 
weak hearts or bad digestions, and the number of 



206 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

other organic disturbances (trivial or serious) is 
limited only by the number of organs in the body. 

What are the results of these defects or malad- 
justments? Nature is as resourceful as she is 
prolific. She is ever seeking to adapt, not to social 
conditions or ethical concepts, but to biological 
requirements. When some particular organ is de- 
fective, there is always a tendency — nature's 
effort to strike a new adjustment — for some other 
organ to develop a greater functional capacity to 
overcome the handicap to the body as a whole. 
Subnormal organs show more plasticity and 
adaptability than do normal organs. 

This deviation from a normal physiological 
balance must of necessity affect the psyche, some- 
times stimulating it to compensate in an intellec- 
tual or emotional way for the physical handicap ; 
or, on the other hand, often adversely influencing 
the mental processes through fear or worry over 
the defect. 

Janet and other distinguished neurologists of 
the old school have mentioned that the neurotic's 
sense of inferiority, which has been called a ' * sense 
of incompleteness," sought compensation in neu- 
rotic imaginings. 

A study of the mechanistic factors of behavior 
shows that one of the prime effects of organ in- 
feriority of any kind is to promote nervous ac- 
tivity. This increased nervous activity, if it is 
not vouchsafed an outlet for constructive, crea- 
tive work, will turn within and work havoc in the 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 207 

form of a neurosis. It is this combination of 
circumstances, a defective organ and a highly 
charged nervous system, with great energetic 
capacity, that has been so conspicuous in the 
pathological history of genius. Subnormal organs, 
under the stimulation of the autonomic nervous 
system, and when augmented by compensatory 
activity of other organs or functions with which 
they are correlated, develop supernormal proper- 
ties in the body as a whole. 

In Chapter XV, it will be noted that the most 
representative geniuses in all fields of endeavor 
had suffered from pronounced physical defects of 
one sort or another, which reacted in the form 
of increased nervous energy. At least there were 
physical and psychic disabilities which were ac- 
companied by great nervous energy. This excess 
of nerve force often found an outlet in eccentric 
or irrational actions — indeed, not infrequently in 
the form of insanity. 

History records numerous cases of those who, 
steeled apparently by the struggle against phys- 
ical handicap, have risen to heights of creative 
achievement. The irrepressible Caveman within 
will not tolerate a feeling of inferiority. There 
is always the tendency to compensate for any sort 
of weakness. 

Some of the more commonplace forms of com- 
pensation are readily recognized. Little men walk 
erect ; tall men stoop. There is the bravery of the 
physically small; the bragging of the timid; the 



208 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

washing mania of the immoral; the cheerfulness 
of the dying (tuberculosis psychosis) ; the patriot- 
ism of the unheroic. People with a weak stomach 
become interested in the nutritive values and di- 
gestive properties of foods, and frequently become 
expert on these subjects. Subnormal eyesight in- 
tensifies the visual psyche. An art school inves- 
tigated by Adler showed a larger percentage of 
defective eyesight than any other gathering of 
young people. 

Mozart had an imperfectly developed ear; 
Beethoven had otosclerosis, and finally became 
totally deaf. Demosthenes, Aristotle, Virgil and 
Lamb were among the stammerers. Homer, Timo- 
leon and Milton were blind. iEsop was crippled 
in body. Alexander the Great, Caesar, St. Paul, 
Petrarch, Mohammed, Charles V, Napoleon, Dos- 
toevsky, were a few of the great epileptics. 
Socrates, ungainly of limb and ugly of body, de- 
veloped a wonderful mind. Byron was club- 
footed. Epictetus, once a slave, was maimed in 
body but indomitable in spirit. De Quincey was 
large-headed and wizened-bodied. Charles Dar- 
win did not know what it was to enjoy a day of 
good health for forty years. Laura Bridgman and 
Helen Keller, deaf, dumb and blind, achieved fame 
in spite of these formidable obstacles. The ex- 
traordinary imagination of Eobert Louis Steven- 
son was developed at the expense of an ailing, 
tubercular body. Roosevelt transformed a frail 
physique into a human dynamo. Edison, defective 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 209 

in hearing, utilized his excessive energy in the do- 
main of scientific achievement. 

The ancients must have noted this tendency, as 
they attributed defects to some of their important 
mythological gods. Odin, chief of the Norse Gods, 
had one eye ; Tyr, God of War, one hand ; Vidar, 
slayer of the Wolf of Fenrer, was dumb. Vulcan, 
the Roman's God of Fire, was lame. 

The reports of the Massachusetts Asylum for 
the Blind make mention of a female deaf and blind 
mute, Julia Brace, who had developed an extraor- 
dinary compensatory faculty in the sense of smell. 
Anyone whom she had met before she recognized 
by smell. She knew all of her acquaintances by 
the smell of their hands, and was able to perceive 
and distinguish odors that other persons could 
not detect. In sorting clothes that had come for 
the wash, she could distinguish those of each 
friend. If half a dozen strangers were present 
and each threw his glove into a hat, and the gloves 
were mixed, Julia would take them up and by 
means of smell alone, return them to their owners. 
She could also tell brothers and sisters by smell. 



Authority Complex 

Just as every individual struggles against phys- 
ical handicap, he likewise struggles against re- 
pressive factors in his environment. The reac- 
tions to the inhibitory forces of our environment 



210 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

are manifold in their scope, and produce para- 
doxical results. 

Undue parental repression may result in stifling 
the initiative of a child, in which case the ener- 
getic force turns within and through introversion 
creates a neurosis; or, the exercise of unwise 
parental restrictions may turn the child into a 
confirmed, unreasonable rebel against any kind of 
authority. 

In the first situation, the ego seeks an abnormal 
form of compensation through neurotic substitute 
gratification. In the second, there is an abnormal 
compensation because, although going in the right 
direction, the ego-urge has gone beyond all ra- 
tional bounds. The original trend to rebellious- 
ness was justified because it represents an attempt 
to resist an authority that threatens the develop- 
ment of the individual's personality. As a matter 
of fact, every living organism struggles to express 
itself, and resents suppression or repression. 

The confirmed rebelliousness that degenerates 
into negativism is a chronic resistance due to an 
authority complex. It is useless, however, to con- 
demn it without an insight into its genesis. And 
an understanding of it brings to us a realization 
that, after all, it is the ego-urge striving to be felt. 
As this striving is essential to the development of 
personality and character, the tendency is sound 
at bottom, but it has simply got out of all control 
of the individual, whom it dominates. 

Examples may be noted of persons of creative 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 211 

genius who have been profoundly influenced by an 
authority complex. The positive trend in these 
cases is exceptional. Instead of nursing their 
complexes on the sour milk of futility and disrup- 
tion, they have gained a certain amount of ego- 
satisfaction by turning them into constructive 
revolutionary channels. 

Wagner is a distinguished example of the artist 
who turns his rebellous fervour into imperishable 
music. Voltaire, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Carlyle, 
Ibsen, were incurable iconoclasts who have en- 
riched the world of philosophy and letters. A 
whole school of Eussian writers, embittered by the 
blanket oppression of the Czars, which had per- 
meated the whole social atmosphere of their coun- 
try, has given us a remarkable literature that can- 
not be duplicated in any other nation. 

Perhaps no creative neurotic offers a better 
illustration of the authority complex and the re- 
sultant struggle against an over-powering feeling 
of inferiority than Strindberg. From childhood, 
Strindberg was obsessed by the idea of his fancied 
inferiority, and his life represented a series of 
desperate efforts to climb out of this estate. So 
confirmed was he in his obsession, because of the 
powerful influence the complex exerted upon him, 
that all his marvelous creative power was futile 
to lift him above his fears. He succumbed finally 
to the Nemesis of inferiority that had haunted him 
from the beginning; dying with "the cross before 
his eyes and hate in his heart," — the cross, the 



212 THE :CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

everlasting symbol of inability to master an 
earthly life, and hate, the negation of all emotional 
value. 

The tragedy of the typical neurotic's attempt 
to realize his goal of superiority is that the goal 
is a fictitious or unreal one. He squanders incal- 
culable energy in attempting to attain it. He is 
driven toward it by the impetus of his unfulfilled 
(i.e., unfulfillable) desires. His goal is as useless 
as it is vague and impossible. If attained, it would 
benefit neither himself nor anyone else. True to 
neurotic form, he is on the wrong track. The only 
relief possible is through insight into, and re- 
integration of, his unconscious mental processes, 
which will then enable him to direct his ideas and 
attitudes toward reality. 



Radicalism 

The radical is a person whose ego rebels against 
one or several socially organized repressions. The 
term radicalism, however, is popularly associated 
with any movement that runs counter to the 
dominant factor in the social organization. In the 
days when the Church held temporal supremacy, 
radicalism was directed principally against the 
abuses and restrictions of ecclesiasticism. The 
radicals of the Middle Ages were those who ached 
under the ecclesiastical ban on unauthorized teach- 
ings and ideas. Today the most thoroughgoing 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 213 

free thinker is not considered radical if his 
political and economic opinions are orthodox. 

Immediately after the church's decline in 
temporal power, the true radicals were poli- 
tical dissenters who protested against the ab- 
solutism of kings and other hereditary monarchs. 
They advocated the cause of the growing commer- 
cial class, the bourgeoisie, who were finally trium- 
phant, barring some remnants of feudalism that 
remained in Europe up to the time of the World 
War. Today one may be the staunchest kind of 
bourgeois democrat and still escape the stigma of 
radicalism if he is a conformist in his economic 
ideas. 

At the present time, the radical is the advocate 
of industrial democracy. The dominant power of 
contemporary society lies with the industrial- 
economic regime, so support of this institution 
becomes the criterion of orthodoxy. 

The principal point in this discussion is that the 
same psychological factor that made the ec- 
clesiastic radical later made the political radical, 
and finally the typical economic radical. They all 
rebelled against the dominant system of their time, 
because they associated it (unconsciously for the 
most part) with an unbearable authority. 

It may be that there has been a rare rebel in 
every epoch who reasoned his course out by the 
cold, dispassionate method of absolute logic. Even 
the rarest of these, I believe, has drawn in part 



214 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

upon his unconscious memories of a soul-revolting 
authority in childhood. 

Undoubtedly, the most logical, dispassionate, 
coldly calculating rebel of the present epoch is 
Lenin. Both his friends and his enemies, by direct 
statement or implication, admit this. Whether 
acclaimed a devil or a saint, there is a general 
agreement on this point. But to understand the 
psychology of Lenin, we must consider that, al- 
though coming from a family of the Eussian no- 
bility, he has been a rebel from his early youth. 
I have never come across any description of his 
father, but can readily imagine him to have been 
an iron- willed despot of the characteristic Russian 
nobleman type. Perhaps even Lenin inherited the 
qualities which he grew to hate in the personality 
of his father. And then, while still in his teens, 
he saw his older brother, also a confirmed rebel, 
fall a gallows victim of the Czar's hangmen. Is 
it not probable that the emotional reaction of this 
shock has left its indelible imprint on the men- 
tality of Lenin, and that it has contributed to his 
determination to smash all that he associated with 
the old order? 

The development of modern industry, with its 
constant trend toward specialization, is directly 
responsible, from a psychological viewpoint, for 
acute outbreaks of the ego-urge in the way of 
radical agitation. Wholesale production does not 
satisfy the instinct for workmanship, contrivance 
or constructiveness. The desire for individual 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 215 

achievement is seldom fulfilled, in modern indus- 
try, so that by the denial of one of the fundamental 
cravings of the ego, there is prepared a fertile 
background for discontent. This is true irrespec- 
tive of the question of wages and other working 
conditions, although these of course are vital 
factors in the industrial relations. The point is, 
even were all other working conditions ideal, there 
would be radical discontent if the creative instinct 
were denied an outlet. 

In the old days of handicraft, when the work- 
man made his product from start to finish, instead 
of specializing on a single part or a single opera- 
tion, he was able to express his originality and 
personality. This opportunity for creative effort 
fulfilled a psychological need which is lost to 
modern industry. It is the problem of any society 
that can claim to be fundamentally sound to over- 
come this defect by substituting some construc- 
tive outlet for the creative instinct. 

In this country extreme economic radicalism is 
epitomized in the Industrial Workers of the 
World. This opens up a vast subject that cannot 
even be outlined here. It may be suggested, how- 
ever, that I. W. W. 'ism is a result of some sinister 
cause. It is an effect that should be traced to its 
roots, and not blindly suppressed, leaving the cor- 
roding cause to remain. The late Professor Carle- 
ton H. Parker, who has made the most extensive 
disinterested investigation into the I. W. W. prob- 
lem, said that it can be profitably viewed only as 



216 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

a psychological by-product of the neglected child- 
hood of industrial America. He further stated, 
" There will be neither permanent peace nor pros- 
perity in our country till the revolt-bases of the 
I. W. W. are removed, and till that is done the 
I. W. W. remains an unfortunately valuable symp- 
tom of a diseased industrialism." 

No less an authority than Dr. Jacques Loeb 
(Comparative Physiology of the Brain) has 
stressed the importance of the instinct of work- 
manship, and the evil results of denying it an 
adequate outlet. He summed it up in these words : 
". . . Lawyers, criminologists and philosophers 
frequently imagine that only want makes man 
work. This is an erroneous view. We are instinc- 
tively forced to be active in the same way as ants 
and bees. The instinct of workmanship would be 
the greatest source of happiness if it were not 
for the fact that our present social and economic 
organization allows only a few to satisfy this in- 
stinct. . . . The greatest happiness in life can be 
obtained only if all instincts, that of workmanship 
included, can be maintained at a certain optimal 
intensity. But while it is certain that the individ- 
ual can ruin or diminish the value of its life by 
a one-sided development of its instincts, e.g. dis- 
sipation, it is at the same time true that the 
economic and social conditions can ruin or di- 
minish the value of life for a great number of 
individuals. It is no doubt true that in our own 
present social and economic conditions more than 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 217 

ninety per cent, of human beings lead an existence 
whose value is far below what it should be." 



Conservatism 

The authority complex is also the psychological 
foundation of conservatism. Unlike the instance 
of radicalism, there is lacking the resistance to 
the basic motive. Instead of generating an in- 
tense conflict, with its consequent rebelliousness, 
it promotes a feeling of dependence on someone 
or thing whom it associates with parental author- 
ity. This form of reaction is particularly deplor- 
able when it robs the subject of all reasonable 
confidence in himself. He (or she) must have 
someone to lean upon. He depends upon others 
for his opinions. He lacks initiative, although he 
talks much about his plans, which never material- 
ize. He tends to follow the crowd, instead of 
acting as a thinking individual. He becomes es- 
sentially a unit of the crowd instead of a real 
personality. The significance of this is demon- 
strated in Chapter XIII. 

It is a fact of mass psychology that the inhibi- 
tions of childhood, as personified in parental 
authority, should be continued in the authority of 
organized society. Everywhere, we are fenced in 
by "Don'ts." As a matter of fact, the great ma- 
jority of people expect them, and would be quite 
at sea without this constant expression of author- 
ity to look up to. 



218 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Those who most sincerely respect and uphold 
this situation are grown-up children, called adults, 
who carry about in the Unconscious a dominating 
parent-image, or authority complex. Unable to 
pome to any rational decision by way of inde- 
pendent thinking on their own account, they al- 
ways look to some superior authority when in 
doubt, as the child does to its father. 

To the child, the father, whether wise or ig- 
norant, is the personification of wisdom and 
strength. Indeed, the ignorant parent is apt to 
use his physical strength in lieu of wisdom. 

The adult child finds his fancied protection, not 
in attempting to reason out the why, and ivhere-> 
fore, and whence of problems that confront him, 
but in leaning on the strength of superior author- 
ity. This he recognizes in established institutions 
— the state and all its subdivisions, the church, 
and, to a degree that he does not consciously real- 
ize, the newspaper he reads and frequently ridi- 
cules. 

In the hysteria of war-times, the reaction of the 
authority complex is particularly notable. It was 
a former Attorney General of the United States, 
I believe, who issued the edict early in the Great 
War which was placarded in public places all over 
the country: "Obey the lata and keep your mouth 
shut!" The elegance of this phraseology is ex- 
ceeded only by its edifying purport. It would be 
difficult to imagine popularizing anything so crude 



THE CAVEMAN REBELS 219 

except under the influence of the war spirit — and 
among grown-up children. 

These soul-stirring words, to many an adult- 
child, carried the connotation of parental author- 
ity. The brusque warning might be laughed at as 
a joke, or slightly resented as an infringement on 
a citizen's right to express himself, but neverthe- 
less, to the great majority, it symbolized the voice 
of the Great Father — the State. 

The conservatism that intelligently selects and 
retains that which has proven its worth in human 
experience is a truly conserving force. A different 
kind of "conservatism" is the indiscriminate 
stand-pat-ism of the individual dominated by an 
authority complex. To this universal type, au- 
thority is summed "up in precedent. What is, must 
be right. All the approved institutions, with their 
long line of precedent, speak with authority which 
must not be questioned. This kind of conserva- 
tive is "a man who believes that nothing should 
ever be done for the first time." 

An intimate knowledge of our psychic opera- 
tions is bound to diminish the primitive strength 
of the herd-instinct, and to develop individuality 
and self-reliance. By dissipating the parent com- 
plex, we loosen the strangle hold of authority, and 
pave the way for a fuller expression of the creative 
will. This irradiation will do much to relieve us 
of our repressions, taboos and shackling fears. It 
will be a powerful influence in converting destruc- 



220 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

tive impulses, and in freeing the dynamic faculties 
of both the unconscious and conscious mind. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Adler, Alfred, Organ Inferiority and Its Psychic Com- 
pensation, Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph 
Series No. 24. 

Adler, Alfred, The Neurotic Constitution, New York, 
1917. 

Bjerre, Poul, The History and Practice of Psychoanaly- 
sis, Boston, 1916. 

Parker, Carleton H., The Casual Laborer and other 
Essays, New York, 1920. 

Veblen, Thorstein, The Instinct of Workmanship, New 
York, 1918. 

Tead, Ordway, Instincts in Industry, Boston, 1919. 

Trotter, W., Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War, 
New York, 1919. 

Sanger, Margaret, Woman and the New Race, New 
York, 1920. 

Sanger. Margaret, The Pivot of Civilization, New York, 
1922. 



CHAPTER XII 
THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 

Conscious professed ideals are as straws in the wind; 
the unconscious or concealed ideals are the real forces 
that govern mankind. — Gilbert Murray. 

In recognition of the extent, and apparent 
increase, of mental subnormality, Professor 
William McDougall begins his recent, much-dis- 
cussed work, Is America Safe for Democracy? 
with this startling observation: "As I watch the 
American nation speeding gaily, with invincible 
Optimism, down the road to destruction, I seem 
to be contemplating the greatest tragedy in the 
history of mankind. ' ' 

A number of volumes, and many contributions 
to periodicals, have appeared within the past few 
years, dealing with the problems of low mental 
age among adults, as disclosed by army statistics 
during the war. Most of these works are of value 
chiefly in bringing to public attention a very de- 
plorable condition, and the wide discussion which 
has followed may help to a great extent in finding 
and applying a remedy. It seems to me that the 
general tendency has been to over-emphasize the 
genetic side of the question and to minimize the 

221 



THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

environmental factors. In making this statement, 
I do not wish it presumed that I am under-rating 
the importance of hereditary qualities. I merely 
wish to have it brought home that there are two 
sides to the question, and both must have ade- 
quate consideration. 



r Army Mental Tests 

In order to appreciate the extent of mental 
deficiency and illiteracy among the adult popu- 
lation of the country, we can do no better than 
review some of the data collected by the Army 
authorities during the war. That there is a dis- 
tinction between illiteracy and mental deficiency 
is, of course, obvious, although both are in the 
nature of social liabilities, as well as personal 
handicaps. 

It was the intention that the tests should be not 
at all a barometer of knowledge, and not of a 
kind to give much scope to such mental training 
as is developed at school. The results were cal- 
culated to represent innate mental ability — intel- 
ligence. 

The army intelligence examination was given 
to 1,726,966 men, of whom 41,000 were officers. 
Nearly thirty per cent, of the 1,556,011 men for 
whom statistics were available when Messrs. 
Yoakum and Yerkes published their report, were 
found to be unable to "read and understand news- 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 223 

papers and write letters home," 1 and were given 
a special examination prepared for illiterates. 

An explanation of the mental ratings for the 
various classifications, and the respective per- 
centages of those who took the tests, follows: 

A. Very superior intelligence. This grade was 
ordinarily reached by only four and one-half per 
cent, of a draft quota. It was composed of men 
of marked intellectuality, with the ability to make 
a superior record in college or university. 

B. Superior intelligence. Less exceptional than 
that represented by "A," and was obtained by 
nine per cent, of the draft. Men of this group 
are capable of making an average record in 
college. 

C+. High average intelligence. This group in- 
cluded about sixteen and one-half per cent, of the 
draft. Cannot do so well as "B," but contained 
some men with capacity for leadership and power 
to command. 

C. Average intelligence. Included about twenty- 
five per cent, of drafted men. These men are 
rarely capable of graduating from a high school. 
They are of a grade that is said to make ''excel- 
lent privates'' in the army. Their mental age 
may be put at about fourteen. 

C — . Loiv average intelligence. These men made 
up about twenty per cent, of the draft. Although 
below average intelligence, they are "usually 
good privates and satisfactory in work of a 

1 Army Menial Tests, page 12. 



224 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

routine nature." Mental age probably not below 
twelve. 

D. Inferior intelligence. Included about fifteen 
per cent, of the draft. Are usually slow in learn- 
ing, but likely to make fair soldiers. It is unsafe 
to expect these, or those of grades "D — " and 
"E" to read intelligently or to understand writ- 
ten directions. 

D — and E. Very inferior intelligence. Com- 
prised about ten per cent, of the soldiers. The 
majority of these men were below the mental age 
of ten — some were discovered with a mental age 
as low as two or three, and were being passed 
upon for sending to France in 1918. 

Between April 27th and November 30, 1918, 
7749 men (0.5 per cent.) were reported for dis- 
charge by psychological examiners because of 
mental inferiority. The recommendations for 
assignment to labor battalions because of low- 
grade intelligence, numbered 9871 (0.6 + per 
cent.). 9432 (0.6 + per cent.) were recommended 
for assignment to development battalions for 
further observation to determine if there might 
be ways of using them in the Army. 

During this same seven-months' interval, there 
were reported 4700 men with a mental age below 
seven years ; 7762 between seven and eight years ; 
14,566 between eight and nine years; 18,581 be- 
tween nine and ten years. This gives a total of 
45,653 men under ten years of age mentally. The 
authors of Army Mental Tests consider it ex- 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 225 

tremely improbable that many of these indi- 
viduals were worth what it cost the government 
to maintain, equip and train them for military 
service. 

Assuming that the drafted men were a fair 
sample of the mental development of our 100,- 
000,000 population, it means that forty-five mil- 
lions, nearly one-half of the whole population, 
have the mental capacity of a normal twelve-year- 
old child, and that only thirteen and one-half per 
cent, possess superior intelligence. 

Turning for the moment from mental inferiority 
to illiteracy, as late as June 17, 1921, in an 
address at Sea Girt, N. J., under the auspices of 
the Military Order of the World War, General 
Pershing was reported in the press to have stated : 
' 'The illiteracy of a high percentage of the young 
manhood of America is a disgrace to any 
nation . . . " 



Emotional Immaturity 

Aside from mental age, which is subject to 
arrestment at various levels, there is also an emo- 
tional progression that may be halted at almost 
any stage, instead of arriving at a well-rounded 
maturity. There is often a discrepancy between 
the intellectual and the emotional levels in the 
same individual. In too many cases, they are 
both below normal, but it can readily be under- 



226 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

stood that one reacts upon the other and in- 
fluences it accordingly. 

From the emotional side, which indicates the 
domination of unconscious ideas and urges, it has 
been proj)osed that there are five ages of man. 
These are not hard and fast classifications, but 
are arranged as a tentative working basis for 
study and discussion. As a matter of fact, there 
may be any number of graduations between the 
lowest and the highest. 

In infancy, the emotional age is characterized 
by absolute dependence upon the mother or her 
substitute. Ferenczi, the Hungarian psychologist, 
who has thrown much light upon this subject, has 
divided infancy into the following periods: (1) 
unconditional omnipotence ; (2) magical-hallucina- 
tory omnipotence; (3) omnipotence by the help of 
magic gestures; (4) omnipotence by magic 
thoughts and magic words. 

After infancy there follows the first emotional 
age of childhood, ranging from about four to 
seven years, during which the repressive in- 
fluences of the social environment make a very 
deep and permanent impression on the child. 

The second childhood age, covering the period 
from seven to the beginning of puberty, is char- 
acterized by physical growth and muscular de- 
velopment. It is also in this stage that the child 
begins to detach itself from its parents by form- 
ing attachments outside the family circle. 

The pubescent age runs along from twelve to 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 227 

seventeen. The first figure is the average earliest 
age for girls, and the second the average latest 
age for boys. It is at this age that the sexual 
side of the adolescent rapidly completes its de- 
velopment, and the reactions of this climacteric 
situation on the whole organism, physically, men- 
tally and spiritually, are very pronounced. 

The fifth and final emotional age, which is 
reached, without any question of doubt, by a 
minority of people only, is that of well-rounded 
adulthood. Normally, it signifies the completion 
of the evolution of the emotions. In all other 
cases, the maladjustments of the emotional 
mechanism, which had their origin in the preced- 
ing ages, may express themselves in the most 
aggravating forms. 

Very often a high order of mental capacity will 
be accompanied by emotional under-development. 
A man may be a success in his business, having 
overcome many formidable obstacles, and still, 
because of some unfavorable situation in his early 
life, suffer from a stoppage in the unfolding of 
his emotional nature. This condition is invari- 
ably represented by a desire of the victim to re- 
turn, symbolically, to the stage at which his 
emotions became fixed. His ideals become more 
and more centered on emotional stimuli that he 
should normally have lived through and out- 
grown. 

Many petty sadists, not to speak of the more 
extreme types, who inflict their cruelties on those 



228 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

over whom they have authority, are examples of 
persons suffering from arrested emotional de- 
velopment. They may be keen of mind, and 
apparently mature, but they are emotionally 
chained to a primitive, preadolescent level that 
would be normal for childhood. They are char- 
acterized by a feverish spirit of restlessness and 
dissatisfaction. With their adult physique and 
relatively mature mental development, they are 
living paradoxes. One side of the Caveman in 
particular is constantly cropping out. People of 
this type need psychic re-education. An insight 
into their psychical processes is invariably help- 
ful. These cases are among the most hopeful be- 
cause they have the intelligence required to grasp 
the situation when it is disclosed to them. 

The "hoodlum," on the other hand, is an indi- 
vidual who has grown to physical maturity and 
remains at a low mental and emotional level. He 
is a man in body, but a child, that is, a savage, 
in mind and character. 

Children who pass through the evolving stages 
of youth without the love, attention and care that 
should be the birthright of every child, invariably 
suffer from emotional starvation. And there are 
literally millions of children who, because of the 
family's extreme poverty, or sickness or other 
misfortune befalling one or both of the parents, 
reach physical and sometimes mental adulthood 
with the invisible chains of an emotionally unful- 
filled childhood drawing them back to a chapter 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 229 

of life they have been denied, and which they can- 
not now obtain. 

Many of these people may meet with material 
success, some in a very substantial way, but they 
are spiritual failures in the adult world. While 
society, seeing only the material aspects, may not 
realize the drawback, their families and the wives, 
in particular, are the ones who face the conse- 
quences and suffer the penalties of a fate, of 
which all concerned are the unknowing victims. 

While a comparatively few of those so handi- 
capped have surmounted the obstacles of an 
emotionally starved childhood and risen to dis- 
tinguished adulthood notwithstanding, who will 
say that there are not vast numbers that have 
found the terrific handicap of the past too great 
to overcome. Careful observation will disclose, 
too, that it is not always the intellectually favored 
who succeed in a material way, but rather those 
who have a fair mind and the stronger physical 
constitution. Surrounded by a barrier of crush- 
ing physical odds, the superior intellect, so fre- 
quently associated with a more sensitive and 
delicately balanced nervous system, is all too often 
vanquished by the competitor of coarser texture. 

The history of the greatest material successes 
of this age is not a record of the triumph of the 
finest minds, signifying nobility of character, con- 
scientiousness, social and personal honesty; in- 
stead, especially in laying their foundations, it 
has been for the most part a sordid chronicle of 



230 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

chicanery, craft, cunning, trickery in competition, 
political debauchery and ruthless exploitation. 

Heredity versus Environment 

There seems to he a tendency on the part of 
academic psychologists, theoretical eugenists and 
anthropologists, in their concentration on some 
specialized study, usually the absorbing subject 
of heredity, to minimize, and often to overlook 
entirely, the question of environment. It may be 
that controversies over the relative importance 
of heredity and environment are futile because 
the two factors are so essentially unlike that com- 
parison is impossible. Well then, we shall not 
discuss their relative importance. But there still 
remains the fact that there are two factors to 
be considered, each on its own account and in its 
relation to the other. 

A writer on eugenics has disposed of the tre- 
mendously important social problems (which con- 
stitute environment) in the most off-hand way by 
this naive declaration: "A mentally strong man 
in an unfortunate environment is self -impelled to 
get out of it and into one which matches his 
powers." 

If a "strong mind" were a disincarnated 
mechanism, there might be some merit to this 
contention. But we must remember that a strong 
and even brilliant mind makes its advent into this 
world in a mortal body that is subject to all the 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 231 

warping, twisting and degrading influences of a 
pernicious environment. And as the "mind" is 
no less a part of the human organism than the 
"body," they are equally influenced, for good or 
ill, by environmental factors. 

In contrast to the fallacious extreme of vir- 
tually ignoring environmental influences, let us 
consider the statement of Dr. Morton Prince, the 
eminent psychiatrist: "That our points of view, 
attitudes of mind, sentiments, and the meaning 
which ideas have for us are determined by the 
experiences of life and are, therefore, acquired, 
can scarcely be traversed. ' ' 2 

Now, as man, intellectually and emotionally, is 
simply a bundle of opinions, attitudes and senti- 
ments, which may direct his whole life along posi- 
tive and constructive, or negative and destructive, 
lines, it can readily be seen that environment is of 
very fundamental importance. 

The mind that is most responsive to sensory 
stimuli and is capable of higher development is 
a plastic material that may also be worked upon 
by the blighting agencies of a soul-crucifying 
environment. Thus the slums always have pro- 
duced, and will continue to produce, social misfits, 
incompetents and criminals with fatalistic cer- 
tainty. 

Society's responsibility for criminality has been 
summarized by Professor Calkins in these words : 
"The criminal is not merely an individual delin- 

* The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. XI, April, 1916. 



232 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

quent; he is a social product. And society is 
chargeable with some portion of his guilt. If he 
is sent to prison, then we should all be sent to 
prison with him, but since this is impracticable 
the least we can do is to try to restore him. He 
is properly the object not of retribution, but of 
redemption." 

From certain highly esteemed sources, fearful 
for the future, there issues a feverish clamour 
for a revival of racial strength by the dual 
method of stimulating the birth-rate of the "fit" 
and ending the propagation of the "unfit." It 
would seem logical, before agitating an increase 
in human numbers from any social group, first to 
assure every child that is born into the world 
"fit" a chance to develop into a racial asset. Only 
too often the rough edges of society crush indis- 
criminately the fit and unfit, unless a kindly dis- 
posed fate drops them into a favourable environ- 
ment. 

And it should be equally self-evident that 
accessibility of contraceptive information to 
married people of the less effective social groups 
would contribute materially to the racial welfare. 
There appears to be a feeling among the theoret- 
ical eugenists that the excessive birth-rate among 
the less fortunately situated is due to careless- 
ness, or is even deliberate. As a matter of fact, 
everyone who has had the least contact with this 
situation knows that in the overwhelming 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 233 

majority of cases, it is helplessness, which may 
eventually sink into the inertia of hopelesness. 

The burden of excessive progeny among those 
economically handicapped is in itself conducive 
to "unfitness." It results in a disintegration of 
the family morale, to the moral, intellectual and 
physical detriment of its individual units. So it 
will be seen that the evils of racial degeneration, 
which are reflected in a low mental and emotional 
age, are bound up with prolificacy in any socially 
unfavorable environment. 

It is true, as the heredity specialists declare, 
that oak trees will come only from an oak stock. 
But we know that a certain environment will warp 
an oak, making it comparatively valueless; and 
that a continuation of unfavorable environmental 
factors will dwarf its line so that we have a literal 
scrub oak. And the best of human material, sub- 
jected to the deteriorating forces of an unpropi- 
tious environment, will degenerate into a scrub 
stock. 

In stressing the influences of environment, I 
do not wish to imply that I am out of sympathy 
with the fundamental principles of eugenics, or 
that I underrate the magnificent work of Galton 
and his followers. Their contribution to human 
progress is an invaluable one. Nevertheless, 
there is a tendency on the part of certain in- 
fluential writers in the eugenics movement to 
present a thoroughly one-sided picture of the 
racial problem. 



234 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Mr. Edward Thomas in his book, Industry, 
Emotions and Unrest, refers to tests made at the 
University of Pennsylvania's Psychological Clinic 
for children suspected of being mentally defec- 
tive, which indicated that more than ninety per 
cent, of the children brought to it regained a 
normal development when placed in proper care. 

Commenting on the observation that among 
children of orphan institutions generally, nearly 
half of the children in large orphanages are 
seriously defective in brain power and that the 
older ones are more affected than the others, Mr. 
Thomas was informed by a psychologist that 
probably few of these children are really defec- 
tive. He believed that they had not been co- 
ordinated with the conventions of everyday life. 

These children, deprived of the therapeutic 
balm of love and denied the opportunities for 
mental unfoldment that would be present in some 
degree in a normal family life, are subnormal 
from environmental pressure. And as they grow 
up into physical adulthood, the mentality becomes 
crystallized and remains static at some age-level 
of childhood. 

Even in great numbers of homes, because of 
the neurotic tendencies and lack of insight on the 
part of the parents, children are subjected to con- 
ditions that tend to prevent the full development 
of their mental possibilities and emotional nature. 

The genetic authorities are doubtless quite 
correct in reminding us that education cannot in- 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 235 

crease the intellectual potentialities or capacities. 
But that is only half the story. A fact equally 
important is that the opportunities must be avail- 
able in order to assure the development of the 
existent potentialities and capacities. Further- 
more, the possibilities of education are not reali- 
ized in the "cram and emetic" process (to quote 
Saleeby) of prevailing pedagogic methods. 

Education, in reality, is the development of 
the faculties through expression of the person- 
ality and is bound up with every phase of life. 
It is the art of living. It begins at birth and ends 
either at death or with the fossilization of the 
intellect — and only too often it is the latter. 

As schools, with few exceptions, work on chil- 
dren in the mass (grades) and prescribe a uni- 
form curriculum for all pupils within any given 
class or grade, little or no allowance is made for 
personal idiosyncrasies or expressions of indi- 
viduality. Now and then an exceptionally en- 
lightened teacher is found who, on his or her own 
initiative, makes the fullest allowances possible, 
under the restrictions of the pedagogic system, 
for the expression and development of the indi- 
vidual qualities of the pupil. 

But as education does not begin or end in 
school, and is not confined to the class room dur- 
ing the school-attending period, the home life and 
all the influences of the community play their part 
in developing or warping the mind of the child. 
In a sense, however, the school is typical of all 



236 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

these various influencing factors, inasmuch as it 
represents the dominant spirit of conformity. 

Children who do not conform are locally and 
institutionally damned. They are considered 
failures in school and misfits in the community. 
More often than not, they will be found among the 
intellectual pioneers of the morrow. 3 He was a 
profound student of human nature who observed : 
" Whoso would be a man, must be a non-conform- 
ist." 

Dr. Saleeby has epitomized the failure of the 
prevailing educational institutions in the follow- 
ing comment: "A genius was educated at Eton, 
and we say that Eton produced him. The truth 
is, of course, that Eton failed to destroy him. 
(One says Eton for convenience, but the name of 
any accepted school will do.)" 

And to avoid misunderstanding, I again repeat 
and emphasize that the schools are not singled 

s ' ' Many children who became great men had been regarded at 
school as bad, wild, or silly; but their intelligence appeared as 
soon as the occasion offered, or when they found the true path 
of their genius. It was thus with Thiers, Pestalozzi, Wellington, 
Du Gueselin, Goldsmith, Burns, Balzac, Fresnel, Dumas pere, 
Humboldt, Sheridan, Boccaccio, Pierre Thomas, Linnasus, Volta, 
Alfieri. Thus Newton, meditating on the problems of Kepler, 
often forgot the orders and commissions given him by his mother; 
and while he was the last in his class, he was very clever in making 
mechanical playthings. Walter Scott, who also showed badly at 
school, was a wonderful story-teller. Gustave Flaubert was the 
very opposite of a phenomenal child. It was only with extreme 
difficulty that he succeeded in learning to read. His mind, how- 
ever, was already working, for he composed little plays which he 
could not write, but which he represented alone, playing 
the different personages, and improvising long dialogues." — 
C. Lombroso. 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 237 

out as lone offenders, but are used merely as an 
illustration that is typical of our approved social 
institutions. 

Imitative Behavior 

Another factor that must be taken into con- 
sideration — a psychological one — is the universal 
proclivity of children, from the time of their 
earliest observation, consciously and uncon- 
sciously to imitate the actions, attitudes and ex- 
pressions of their parents and others with whom 
they come in contact. A bright child reared in a 
home or community environment wherein there 
are mental defectives will imitate some of the 
peculiar idiosyncrasies of these people until they 
become ingrained into its personality. 

The most promising children raised in an 
atmosphere of mental and emotional poverty must 
inevitably fail to achieve a high degree of mental 
development or maturity of emotional evolution, 
unless some happy, haphazard circumstance 
should intervene to offset the handicap. 

The kinks of character that are produced in the 
formative period by an extremely faulty environ- 
ment result in a lack of mental and moral stamina 
that the best of heredity cannot always overcome 
or outgrow. 

Besides the more extreme cases of subnormal 
mentality that may be classified as, or border on, 
a pathological condition, regressions to childhood 



238 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 




mental levels are among the most common of all 
psychological phenomena. As a matter of fact, 
the psychic and emotional ties that connect us 
with our childhood are so strong that they are 
continually drawing us back. Only the vigilance 
of the intellect and rational processes interferes 
with these regressions. 

Political convictions, religious beliefs and other 
ideas that we absorb from our early environment 
are notoriously impervious to reason or argu- 
ment. We tend to adhere to the traditional faiths 
of our childhood, and often do not care to discuss 
them — only to assert them. 

The man or woman who is forever judging 
situations by the inflexible estimate of what ' ' dear 
mother" or "poor father" would do under the 
circumstances, is demonstrating his or her child- 
hood mental level. Things are appraised in the 
light of childhood reminiscence instead of in their 
relation to the present. Reality is disregarded in 
favour of a childish, or even infantile, attitude. 

As a result of these childhood barriers, and 
their automatic influences over our judgments, we 
have developed an intensive system of ' ' rational- 
ization." Logical reasoning on abstract subjects 
is rare, and most rare of all is the inductive 
method of analysis — i.e., classifying a series of 
known facts and reasoning from them up to gen- 
eral principles ; instead, preconceived notions and 
ideas are supported by building up under them 
an elaborate structure of justification, which may 



THE CAVEMAN'S HALTED DEVELOPMENT 239 

be made to fit any conclusion. The average mind, 
fettered by certain childhood limitations, is satis- 
fied with this inverted method — the antithesis of 
actual reasoning. One can justify any decision or 
opinion he may hold, because he has " reasoned " 
it out. This is a very convenient arrangement, 
because it enables one to retain the mental sloth- 
fulness of childhood, and still pose as a rational 
adult. 

When Francis Bacon was grappling with 
medieval scholasticism three hundred years ago, 
he found this type of mind supreme, even dominat- 
ing the so-called scientific and intellectual fields 
of that time. The two kinds of fallacies he had 
to combat were: "The proneness to support a 
preconceived opinion by affirmative instances, 
neglecting the opposing cases, and the tendency to 
generalize from an insufficient number of observa- 
tions; the other type of errors being this — aris- 
ing from the influence of mere words over the 
mind. ' ' 

There have been great strides made since 1620 
when Bacon gave to the world his Novum 
Organum — the thought-provoking instrument 
which proved to be the key that unlocked the 
door to the modern sciences. Under this impetus, 
the accurate sciences, physics, chemistry, tech- 
nology, etc. developed into the industrial age. The 
so-called social sciences, however, have lagged be- 
hind. As it is these which constitute the educa- 
tional, cultural, religious, political and ideological 



240 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

influences, much of the prevailing irrationality- 
may be traced to anachronistic modes of thought 
emanating from this source. 

Technological problems are studied and solved 
by the methods of positive science. Social prob- 
lems are still left to speculative philosophies that 
are permeated with the decadent remnants of 
medievalism, but slightly disguised under a new 
terminology. Count Alfred Korzybski's valuable 
work, The Manhood of Humanity, already cited, 
throws a flood of light on this subject. Our whole 
social organization at present encourages, aids 
and abets mental subnormality. 

BIBLIOGEAPHY 

McDougall, William, Is America Safe for Democracy? 
New York, 1921. 

Yoakum, Clarence, and Robert M. Yerkes, Army Men- 
tal Tests, New York, 1920. 

Terman, Lewis M., The Measurement of Intelligence, 
New York, 1916. 

Terman, Lewis M., Intelligence of School Children, New 
York, 1919. 

Goddard, H. H., Human Efficiency and Levels of In- 
telligence, Princeton, 1920. 

Ballard, Philip Boswood, Mental Tests, London, 1920. 

Evans, Elida, The Proolem of the Nervous Child, New 
York, 1920. 

Thomas, Edward, Industry, Emotion and Unrest, New 
York, 1920. 



CHAPTEE XIII 

THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 

Every human being has two personalities: an archaic, 
primitive, childlike, unadapted personality, and a modern, 
sophisticated, adult, and, to all appearances, adapted per- 
sonality. — Andre Tridon. 

The intellectual and emotional immaturity of 
a large section of the adult population is closely 
allied to the tendency of the Caveman to break 
loose — resulting in various manifestations of the 
mob spirit. This lack of personal stability is 
recognized in the etymology of the word "mob," 
which philologists tell us is the first syllable of 
mobile vulgus, meaning vulgar or fickle people. 

It might be assumed from this that all mobs are 
up-wellings of the lower strata of society. There 
is no doubt but what the term had its origin in 
the contempt of the old aristocracy for the masses. 
As a matter of fact, however, any group or class 
of society as at present constituted is quite capable 
of supplying effective mob material. 1 

The three requisites to convert any crowd into 
a mob are emotionalism, lack of rational dis- 

1 ' ' Any class may behave and think as a crowd — in fact it usually 
does so in so far as its class interests are concerned." — Everett 
Dean Martin, The Behavior of Crowds. 

241 



242 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

crimination (both of which are assured in prac- 
tically every crowd) and some object of popular 
antipathy that is capable of turning the aroused 
feelings into mass action. In other words, every 
crowd is a potential mob. 

The ethics of established social practices, under 
the influence of the mob spirit, fade away like so 
much vapor. Life may be taken, property de- 
stroyed — it is a gratification of the archaic desires 
within; a release of the psychic tension and sup- 
pressed emotions, a momentary return to the 
crude, primitive life of the Caveman. 

The question of the specific motive in the analy- 
sis of mob psychology is of secondary importance ; 
in fact, only a side issue. As the mob feels and 
acts, but does not reason, the feeling may be 
aroused either by some unbearable oppression, or 
by a lamentable prejudice. Spontaneous mob 
manifestations are invariably the result of the 
latter. Planned or organized mobs may be due 
to either prejudice or oppression. While mobs do 
not think, but turn blind emotionalism into pre- 
cipitate action, their leaders in the case of an 
organized mob are apt to display much sagacity. 

A mob may be animated by some age-old op- 
pression, such as was the case with the mob which 
battered down the Bastille, or by a flagrant injus- 
tice, as was the case with the organized mob which 
had its celebrated Tea Party in Boston Harbor; 
or it may equally be motivated by an overbearing 
popular prejudice, as was the mob which destroyed 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 243 

Lovejoy's printing press, and finally killed the 
determined Abolitionist; or the anti-Semitic fan- 
atics of Georgia who murdered Leo Frank; the 
anti-L W. W.ites who hung crippled Frank Little 
near Butte City; or the Colorado worthies who 
kidnapped Kate Richards O'Hare, the talented 
and eloquent speaker of a dissenting political 
party. 

Mass and Class Mobs 

After our analysis of various anti-social mani- 
festations of the Unconscious, as in dreams and 
other states in which our primitive nature asserts 
itself, it is interesting to note Mr. Everett Dean 
Martin's conclusion regarding the psychology of a 
crowd (potential mob) in his recent excellent 
work, The Behavior of Crowds, viz.: "My thesis 
is that the crowd-mind is a phenomenon which 
should best be classed with dreams, delusions and 
various forms of automatic behavior." 

Mr. Martin, too, maintains that the irrespon- 
sible behavior of the crowd is not limited to the 
masses, for he says that the cry of the Russian 
Revolution, " 'All power to the Soviets,' is pecu- 
liar neither to Russia nor to the working class. 
Such in spirit is the cry of every crowd, for every 
crowd is, psychologically considered, a soviet." 

There are mass mobs, class mobs, college mobs, 
professional mobs, strike mobs, military mobs, na- 
tional mobs, and others that could readily be 



244 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

classified. When a nation becomes hypnotized by 
an obsessive idea, as Germany was, it is a national 
mob. Regardless of the progress made in the 
technological sciences, there is the same psycho- 
logical atmosphere nationally that animates the 
smaller crowd. 

And considering the emotional nature and ra- 
tional development of mankind generally, any 
nation might easily fall into the same delusion 
when the influence of all the mediums of popular 
propaganda, like the press, moving pictures, social 
organizations, political practices, economic pres- 
sure, etc., is employed to encourage people to be- 
have and think as crowds. Even the schools and 
other educational, including religious, institutions 
contribute toward this end, by inculcating the idea 
of uniformity of thought and action (so typical 
of the crowd), instead of stimulating independent 
intellectual pursuit and critical self -analysis. The 
warnings of the greatest philosophers from Soc- 
rates ("look within thyself") to Emerson (urg- 
ing sel/-reliance) have been ignored, and so every- 
one is required to jump into a strait- jacket of 
intellectual conformity. 

When Liebknecht refused to conform to the in- 
tellectual goosestep of the German Junkers, and 
when Harden, in a lesser way, defied the national 
mob spirit of his country, we applauded their 
courageous actions. But when an individual in 
our own midst hesitated to follow the crowd, or 
suggested a little objective analysis of our methods 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 245 

and aims, we showed a vindictiveness which sur- 
passed that faced by Liebknecht or Harden. 

The frequency with which our state legislative 
bodies and the national congress pass hysterical 
legislation amply demonstrates the mob spirit at 
work in these august groups. The emotional out- 
bursts that respond to a display of verbal pyro- 
technics in almost any high-class gathering ex- 
poses the Caveman under a thin veneer of culture 
and broadcloth. 

Le Bon, the French psychologist, avers that a 
crowd is not merely a gathering of people. It is 
primarily a state of mind. It represents a law of 
mental unity. And the quality of this state of mind, 
characteristically, seems to gravitate to the level 
of the lowest intelligence of the individual unit. 
This is because any higher rational expression or 
intellectual protest is lost in the current of primi- 
tive feeling. The obsessive idea of the crowd mind 
is compliance. It follows with mechanical unan- 
imity its single-tracked course of action, and 
will throttle without compunction any digression 
from the set course of the crowd spirit. 

It is significant that the humanists, realists, 
pragmatists, throughout history have received 
scant consideration. Thinkers like Socrates, Pro- 
tagoras, Epictetus, Bacon, Swift, Carlyle, Scho- 
penhauer, Goethe, Nietzsche, Emerson, Thoreau, 
James, whose teachings tend toward the disinte- 
gration of the crowd-mind and emphasize the im- 
portance of self-analysis, were never popular in 



246 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

their own time, and the lip homage rendered them 
by posterity echoes hollowly against the walls of 
intellectual bondage. 

Tyranny of Crowd Spirit 

Probably no modern nation has slid more read- 
ily into the channels of crowd-thinking than 
America. This may be because of the newness 
of the country, and the comparative sparsity and 
heterogeneity of the population, which might tend 
to draw people into groups and to make them think 
as groups. It is also probable that the unparalleled 
abundance of opportunities which have attracted 
people to this country has so sharpened the quest 
for material advantages, with the resultant rival- 
ries and suspicions, that the capacity for objective 
self-analysis has been woefully neglected. 

A not unfriendly critic, de Tocqueville, the 
Frenchman, who visited America in 1830, noted 
the whole trend toward impulsive crowd-action, 
which he called the "tyranny of the majority." 
While he praised whatever appeared meritorious 
to him, he was equally free in reporting our short- 
comings. Much of his comment is so applicable 
today, that the following few paragraphs will bear 
quoting, and we may yet profit by the frank criti- 
cism of this observant visitor : 

"America is therefore a country in which, lest 
anybody be hurt by your remarks, you are not 
allowed to speak freely of private individuals, of 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 247 

the State, or the citizens, or the authorities, of 
public or private undertakings, in short of any- 
thing at all, except perhaps the climate and the 
soil, and even then, Americans will be found ready- 
to defend both as if they had concurred in pro- 
ducing them. 

"The American submits without a murmur to 
the authority of the pettiest magistrate. This 
truth prevails even in the trivial details of na- 
tional life. ... If an American were condemned 
to confine himself to his own affairs, he would be 
robbed of one-half of his existence ; his wretched- 
ness would be unbearable. 

"The French under the old regime held it for 
a maxim that the King could do no wrong. The 
American entertains the same opinion with regard 
to the majority. . . . The majority, therefore, in 
that country exercises a prodigious actual au- 
thority and a power of opinion which is nearly as 
great (as that of the absolute autocrat). No ob- 
stacles exist which can impair or even retard its 
progress so as to make it heed the complaints of 
those whom it crushes upon its path. This state 
of things is harmful in itself and dangerous for 
the future. 

"I am not so much alarmed by the excessive 
liberty which reigns in that country as by the 
inadequate securities which one finds against 
tyranny. When an individual or party is wronged 
in the United States, to whom can he apply for 
redress? 



248 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

"It is in the examination of the exercise of 
thought in the United States that we clearly per- 
ceive how far the power of the majority surpasses 
all the powers with which we are acquainted in 
Europe. At the present time the most absolute 
monarchs in Europe cannot prevent certain opin- 
ions hostile to their authority from circulating 
in secret through their dominions and even in 
their courts. It is not so in America. So long as 
the majority is undecided, discussion is carried 
on, but as soon as its decision is announced, every- 
one is silent. 

"I know of no country in which there is so little 
independence of mind and real freedom of discus- 
sion as in America. In America the majority 
raises formidable barriers around liberty of opin- 
ion. Within these barriers an author may write 
what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond 
them. ' s 

If these strictures from a friendly critic seem 
severe, it is only because we are not given to 
analysing our own acts and motives. But aside 
from the severity, we should be concerned primar- 
ily with the question of the accuracy of the ob- 
servations. The most superficial introspection of 
our national conscience will substantiate all that 
has been said. 

Crowd Witch-Hunting 

High and low, we have acquired a crowd-dic- 
tating and crowd-conforming psychology. Es- 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 249 

peeially within the scope of the social sciences, 
the man who departs from the beaten path of 
orthodoxy receives little better consideration than 
did Friar Bacon or Galileo centuries ago. 2 The 
only difference is, it is not usually necessary to 
incarcerate him in a prison, because he can be as 
effectively silenced by separating him from his 
work and livelihood. No quality of intellectuality 
or moral principle, if non-conformist, is too rare 
to halt the onslaught of the witch-hunting crowd. 
Eminent college professors have been turned 
out of their positions ; clergymen have been forced 
from their pulpits; publicists have been driven 
from public life; writers and editors have been 
denied the medium of print; duly elected repre- 
sentatives have been ousted from their legislative 
seats; scientists and other professional workers 
have been harassed ; lecturers and public speakers 
have been attacked and maltreated; men and 
women of independent mind have been ostracised 
in society; and numerous individuals not before 
the public eye have been persecuted in countless 
ways. This coercion, covering all the above out- 
rages and many that are not here mentioned, was 
exercised, not for committing any crime or mis- 
demeanor whatever, but merely for having and 

2 ' ' There never was a liberal idea which has not been unpopular ; 
never an act of justice which has not caused scandal; never a 
great man who has not been pelted with potatoes or struck by 
knives. The history of human intellect is the history of human 
stupidity, as M. de Voltaire said. ' ' — G. Flaubert, Lettres a Georges 
Sand. 



250 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

expressing an opinion that did not bear the ap- 
proved imprint of the crowd. 

The tendency toward hysterical conformist 
legislation, which seeks to make people act and 
even think alike, has been noted. Not only morals 
and social conduct must be regulated by legisla- 
tive reform waves, but personal habits and tastes 
as well. Everything done in crowd-fashion is 
popular with the majority. Its effectiveness is 
considered synonymous with righteousness and 
success. From industrialism to religion the popu- 
lar ideal is epitomized in mass, jazz and conform- 
ity. Ford production and Billy Sunday evangel- 
ism are the supreme achievements in their respec- 
tive fields. 

The crowd-impulse to act and hunt in packs is 
so manifold in its expression that it may be called 
the psychopathology of every-day life. It offers 
one of the best means of observing the Caveman 
at work. Rational, directed thought, considera- 
tion of and regard for consequences, are quite 
foreign to its method. A realization of its mech- 
anism enables us to understand the prevalence of 
riots, lynchings and other mob activities. Instead 
of expressing our amazement over the occurrence 
of these shocking affairs, we can see that they 
are the grosser evidences of phenomena that are 
taking place about us every day. Almost any 
aggregation of people will furnish the mob-spirit, 
and it requires only the immediate incentive (or 
excuse), and some sensation-seeking individual or 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 251 

medium, to set off the explosive energy that lies 
underneath the skins of the crowd. As Mr. Mar- 
tin says, "A crowd is a device for indulging our- 
selves in a kind of temporary insanity by all going 
crazy together." 

Race Riots and Pogroms 

The race riot at Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the Spring 
of 1921, illustrates this example of grim realism 
better than any other recent occurrence. Within 
an unbelievably short space of time, and from the 
most insignificant apparent cause, a conflagration 
w T as under way which resulted in the loss of scores 
of lives and millions of dollars ' worth of property. 

The role played in this catastrophic event by 
a sensational newspaper is a crushing indictment 
of the standard of journalism so largely prevalent. 
Yellow journalism is designed to cater to the ex- 
plosive emotionalism of the modern Caveman, and 
its effect on him is frequently like a spray of oil 
on a furnace. 

One editor stated that the horror was caused 
by "an impertinent negro, a hysterical girl and 
a yellow newspaper." The riot — in reality it was 
a civil war while it lasted — started in the follow- 
ing way : A thoughtless, and possibly impertinent, 
negro boy stumbled as he entered the elevator of 
a hotel. In an instinctive effort to regain his bal- 
ance he caught hold of the arm of the girl who 
was operating the elevator. The girl screamed. 



252 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN LUS 

A sensation-seeking newspaper reporter who hap- 
pened to be near wrote a wholly false story of the 
negro's attempt to assault the girl. The news- 
paper, seizing the story as a choice morsel for the 
gullible, and not attempting to verify the account, 
published it under scare headlines. This was the 
tinder which set off the conflagration. A white 
mob collected to lynch the negro, and a colored 
mob formed to defend his life. All signs of con- 
stituted authority and "law and order" vanished, 
the mob spirit rose to unprecedented heights, and 
the conflict raged until the death toll ran up around 
one hundred and a considerable portion of the 
city was wiped out. As by the wave of a magic 
wand, centuries of civilization were obliterated, 
the influences of religion and ethics were forgot- 
ten, and the primitive Caveman broke loose in all 
his old-time fury. 

This horror does not stand alone. Similar epi- 
demics of slaughter have occurred within a recent 
period in East St. Louis, Washington, Omaha and 
Chicago, and homicidal outbreaks of less far- 
reaching consequences elsewhere. When occur- 
rences of this kind take place in far-away parts of 
the world, we attribute them to the fiendishness 
of inferior, barbarous people, whom we should 
like to "civilize" and uplift, and we sympathize 
profusely with the unfortunate victims. So it is 
when we hear of massacres of the Armenians by 
the Turks, or of pogroms in Russia and Poland. 

"Reforming" and "uplifting" are such inter- 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 253 

esting pastimes! As we know them, they are 
purely crowd manifestations, invariably asso- 
ciated with a "movement." They are interesting 
because they enable us to work on some other fel- 
low — and so forget our own shortcomings. The 
puritanical group would reform all the rest of the 
people of the country and have them conform to 
its way of thinking. The people of the country 
generally would ' ' civilize ' ' and ' ' Christianize ' ' the 
Turk, the Chinaman, the Jap, the Hindu, the Zulu 
and the South Sea Islander. 

Instead of beginning with the citizens of Tulsa, 
East St. Louis, Washington, Omaha, Chicago, and 
every other village, town, and city of the country, 
we speak of "Americanizing" the immigrant. We 
do not specify the particular standard, except in 
the most abstract and platitudinous terms. 

Seth K. Humphrey reminds us in his book, The 
Racial Prospect: "And our boasted Americanism 
is not a cure for mental incompetency. The police 
blotters of our cities will show that the mobs which 
spring from nowhere at the slightest let-up of 
police control are mostly American-born, with 
scarcely an illiterate among them ; yet they revert 
to the sway of their animal instincts quite as spon- 
taneously as benighted Russians." 

We might only question the use, or at least the 
meaning, of the term "illiterate" in the above 
statement. As a matter of fact, we know that 
illiteracy is rampant throughout the country. A 
great deal of it may not be elementary alphabet 



254 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

illiteracy, but there is a very pronounced degree 
of economic and social illiteracy, with all the 
spiritual and intellectual poverty and lack of in- 
sight that this implies. 

National Mobs and War 

While the character of the mob spirit is a rever- 
sion to the Caveman and is latently present in 
every crowd, it is however usually local in its 
manifestation. A thousand different crowds in a 
thousand different sections of the country may 
surge with emotionalism over a thousand different 
incidents. 

There is one paramount phenomenon — War — 
which not only unites all the scattered crowds into 
one national super-crowd, but it transforms every 
wheel of the social, economic and political mechan- 
ism into a means of furthering crowd-feeling and 
crowd-action. Not satisfied with all necessary de- 
fensive and offensive military measures and 
economic support, there is no end to the devices 
used to foster a pure and simple mob spirit on a 
national scale. 

The atavistic desires that are repressed in nor- 
mal times, cropping out only in mild and distorted 
forms through dreams at night, and phantasies, 
wit and other comparatively harmless ways by 
day, are suddenly released by war. Not only are 
the soldiers in the field vouchsafed a primitive 
outlet for pent-up emotions, but, as E. D. Martin 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 255 

says, "the whole nation becomes a homicidal 
crowd. " It is looking for blood, and not only ' ' the 
enemy within," but the ill-advised peace-maker 
and all others who express a thought or offer a 
suggestion that is not in tune with the prevailing 
martial notes, are flirting with the hazards of fate. 
If our neighbor's veneer of civilization is a little 
thicker than our own and he does not respond so 
readily to the primitive call of the tom-toms and 
blare of the war-spirit, we suspect his patriotism, 
or even call him traitor. 

As Freud suggests, it is not that people sink 
very low in time of war ; they were never so high 
in peace times as popularly supposed. Is there 
any other hypothesis to explain why men who, 
before war starts, are apparently humane and rea- 
sonable, will later give voice to the most violent 
and lawless outbursts against people who differ 
from them, and whose motives they may not un- 
derstand? The fact that they hold a minority 
opinion is a sufficient indictment. "Hang them 
to the first lamp post," "Shoot them at sunrise," 
"Shoot them first and try them after," are the 
hectic suggestions offered by many citizens who 
have been brutalized by the spirit of Mars. The 
veneer has been rubbed off. 

The passion that has been unloosed by war per- 
meates every stitch of the social fabric. Rational- 
ity and lucid reasoning, so rare at any time, are 
scrapped with the arts of peace, and we are swept 
on every side by the turgid emotionalism of the 



256 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

day. We read it in editorials, fiction, poetry, news 
articles and all sorts of special write-ups. We 
hear it on the lecture platform, the vaudeville 
stage, in the pulpit, on the street, in schools, shops, 
offices and in our homes. It is constantly paraded 
before us, harangued about us; it flutters above 
us — is visible and audible everywhere. 

In addition to the crowd psychology of war 
hysteria, there is undoubtedly a remnant of the 
parent fixation that contributes to the individual 
side of the emotionalism. There is a widespread 
identification of the country with the mother, and 
of the authority of the government with the father. 
The personification of a country is invariably a 
mother-image in patriotic drawings, as Columbia, 
Britannia, la France; although the governments 
are represented by father-images — ' ' Uncle Sam, ' ' 
u John Bull", Johnny Crapaud. 

Those who labor under the most inhibitions in 
times of peace are apt to be the quickest to throw 
off all reason and restraint when the emotionalism 
of the mob becomes epidemic. It is no uncommon 
thing at the fever heat of war to hear clergymen — 
the anointed spokesmen of the Prince of Peace — 
declaiming the dogma of the enemy's utter de- 
struction, and the annihilation of all for which he 
stands. This is the tendency in all countries. 
However, as a clergyman's elementary urges are 
possibly more constantly repressed than the aver- 
age, it is only natural, when the inhibitions of 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 257 

society are largely removed, that he should go as 
far as or even a little bit farther than the rest. 

Romain Rolland, Andreas Latzko and other 
realistic writers have emphasized the emotional 
extremes of women during the World War. Their 
militant passion, as a rule, surpassed that of the 
men. As women normally are subjected to greater 
social restrictions than men, their reaction was 
more intense when the restraints were swept 
away. 

One of the typical phases of war hysteria is the 
desire for suppression of inanimate things which 
are merely symbolic of the enemy. The speaking 
of his language is forbidden, likewise the circula- 
tion of his literature (even the classics). In pre- 
venting the singing and playing of his music, there 
is as much satisfaction felt as over a military vic- 
tory. Anything suggestive of the enemy (no mat- 
ter how commendable it may be in normal times) 
is taboo. Even favorite foods that have emanated 
from the culinary arts of the enemy are acceptable 
only after they undergo the chastening of being 
patriotically renamed. 

This means that by banishing from the sight of 
our eyes and the sound of our ears all evidence of 
the enemy's existence, we feel the more secure and 
triumphant. Figuratively, we emulate the example 
of the ostrich and bury our head in the sands 
of self-delusion. By refusing to see any works 
or signs of the enemy, we unconsciously deny his 
existence. He is less of a menace to us. 



258 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Nothing so much excites the primitive, emo- 
tional nature of the individual, stimulates his en- 
durance, and promotes his fighting qualities, as 
music — particularly martial music. Darwin ob- 
served that music has a wonderful power of re- 
calling in a vague and indefinite manner strong 
emotions which have been felt by our ancestors in 
ages long gone by. 

Throughout the whole of military history, music 
has played a vital role in martial combat. The 
conquering Romans charged the enemy to the ac- 
companiment of trumpets and horns. A tradition 
tells us that the Hungarian troops are the worst 
in Europe until their bands start to play — then 
they are said to be the best. A famous Russian 
General stated that from the music the soldier 
absorbs a magic power of endurance, and forgets 
the sufferings and mortality. u It is a divine dyna- 
mite." Napoleon is accredited with saying that 
the weird and barbaric tunes of the Cossack regi- 
ments infuriated them to such rage that they wiped 
out the cream of his army. 

Recognition of the fighting emotions of man re- 
quires that some substitute be offered for the 
utilization of this energy. It will express itself, 
either in a primitive way as a destructive, anti- 
social force, or it may be given an outlet along 
constructive, socially useful lines. 

It should be obvious that an insight into the 
energetic constitution of man is a prime require- 
ment for the ethical regeneration that is so 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 259 

ardently hoped for. The counsel of the early sage 
to "know thyself" is as timely today as it was 
nearly twenty-five hundred years ago. An insight 
into the mechanism of instinctive or automatic 
behavior will enable one to understand the bel- 
ligerent feelings which well up from an ancient 
biological heritage. Most people know as little 
about this aspect of their organism as a Hottentot 
knows about the mechanism of an automobile. 
While myriads of unenlightened Hottentots are 
not attempting to run automobiles promiscuously 
in our midst, great masses of our fellow civilized 
beings are running about, absolutely uninitiated 
into the mysteries of the intricate human machine 
they are operating so blunderingly. 

With a knowledge of the invisible mechanism, 
there will come some nearer approach to mastery 
in its operation — self-mastery. The ability to 
control emotions and direct energy will be ac- 
quired only when some idea of the processes of 
these forces is generally known. It will be noted 
that I have not suggested to "suppress" emo- 
tions. I have emphasized "control," and control 
is a form of expression. 

Prominent among the constructive and socially 
desirable forms of emotional outlet are athletics, 
sports and other healthy rivalries. And in addi- 
tion to physical endeavor, emotional expression is 
afforded in the arts and crafts, in dancing, in song, 
in love, in life. There is a wide field of social 
welfare work that can utilize all the spiritual 



260 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US . 

forces available. Barren moralizing may easily 
be dispensed with. The recognition of a present- 
day application of these forces is in contrast to 
the old-fashioned religious code which focused its 
attention on, and idealized, the remote period of 
nineteen centuries back, and looked to the Here- 
after for its reward. This left a spiritual gap in 
the present which can only be filled by a satisfac- 
tory means of expression. Constructive energy 
must be hitched up with some contemporary social 
force. 

When all the primitive emotions are vouchsafed 
an outlet that is adequate to the ego-nature and 
serviceable to society, we shall be getting farther 
away from the dominant neurotic type that is so 
readily brutalized by the hysteria of war. Instead 
of demanding suppression and conformity, we 
may look for more worthy adversaries who shall 
declare, in the spirit of Voltaire to his enemy 
Helvetius: "I wholly disapprove of what you say 
—and will defend to the death your right to 
say it. ,, 

BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Martin, Everett Dean, The Behavior of Crowds, New 
York, 1920. 

Le Bon, Gustave, The World in Revolt, New York, 1921. 

Le Bon, Gustave, The Psychology of the Crowd, Lon- 
don, 1916. 

White, W. A., Thoughts of a Psychiatrist on the War 
and After, New York, 1920. 



THE CAVEMAN BREAKS LOOSE 261 

Freud, Sigmund, Reflections on War and Death, New 

York, 1919. 
Ribot, Th., Psychology of the Emotions, New York. 
De Tocqueville, A., Democracy in America, Vol. I, 

New York, 1841. 



CHAPTEE XIV 
THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 

The average good citizen may be safely permitted at 
large only because he keeps a few of his natural-born 
proclivities locked up. — Seth K. Humphrey, The Bacial 
Prospect. 

Many of the nervous and physical disabilities, 
as well as mental aberrations, resulting from at- 
tempted suppression of the Caveman within, have 
been noted. There is, however, a distinct type of 
morbidness of mind that warrants special con- 
sideration. This refers to the crusading puritan, 
the professional reformer, and the self-appointed 
guardian of other people's morals. 

If this group of the population is small in num- 
bers, the numerical handicap is amply compen- 
sated for by great activity and lustiness of 
voice. It is forever in action, and always heard. 
Morever, because of the indiscriminate crowd- 
impulsiveness of the people, described in the pre- 
ceding chapter, it is remarkably effective in ac- 
complishing its superficial and frequently negative 
aims — the enactment of repressive Blue Laws, for 
instance. The fact that it makes a " moral" issue 
out of its undertakings gives them a touch of sanc- 

262 



THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 263 

tity, which often places at a disadvantage those 
who question their wisdom, propriety or ra- 
tionality. 

The particular mental kink that is responsible 
for this phenomenon, which in its extremes is 
nothing less than a psychopathological condition, 
is a deep, burning obsession — in substance, a 
genuine neurosis. 

The operation of the law of compensation, phys- 
ical and psychical, has been discussed. The neu- 
rotic puritan is essentially an example of this law 
in operation. The whole trend of his psychic 
processes is under the spell of an association of 
abnormal contrasts. 

The individual who is always painfully good is 
likely to have the most vindictive disposition, 
which would have its primitive outlet in savage 
tyranny. He attempts to compensate for his anti- 
social propensities, constantly gnawing at his soul, 
by studiously assuming the personification of 
righteousness. All sorts of variations of this 
principle of contrasts may be noted. 1 

Cruel, extremely sadistic types, will character- 
istically affect acts of kindness and philanthropy. 
The late Monk Eastman, a notorious New York 
gangster, whose experiences covered a wide range 
of crime and degradation, was a fancier of pigeons 
— pets on whom he lavished much affection. The 
charitableness of thieves is commonly observed. 

1 Howard, the prison reformer, was a tyrant in his own house, 
and had a son who was insane. Nisbet emphasizes that piety is 
a frequent symptom of the epileptic condition. 



264 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



Puritanical Obsessions 

The self-righteous person parades his virtue so 
diligently because, consciously or unconsciously, 
he is imbued with a feeling of sin, and in the 
desperate stress of self-protection, he throws his 
tendencies to evil in the opposite direction. This 
would be admirable if it spurred him to some con- 
structive endeavor, which would strengthen his 
personality and develop his character. But, if he 
did this, he would cease to be obsessed by his inner 
conflict, and he would not longer need to display 
his goodness on dress parade. Always viewing 
the actions of others from a subjective angle, and 
applying to them his own motives, he believes them 
beset by the same temptations as he. So in trying 
to "save" others, by having them tread in his 
futile steps, he wastes his own possibilities and 
too often becomes a sanctimonious nonentity. 

The inner struggle due to hatred of the "flesh" 
in himself, engenders within him a profound 
hatred of the flesh in others. Therefore, he does 
a vicarious penance for his own feeling of sinful- 
ness by attempting to punish the sins of others. 

The man or woman who is distressed by every 
reference to, or suggestion of, sex in literature, 
in art, on the stage, or in certain costumes on the 
street, is emphasizing the subject above its normal 
importance. This self-consciousness indicates a 
pronounced degree of suppressed pornophilia — 



THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 265 

love of the libidinous. There is the mechanism 
of a perversion at work in the person who is con- 
stantly finding indecency in the actions of those 
about him. 

There is the type of ultra-virtuous individual 
who glories in his own self-denial. His repression 
of natural desires is carried to such extremes that 
there is a distinct pathological reaction. Persons 
of this type may be compared to the "holy men" 
of the Middle Ages who subjected themselves to 
flagellation and other self-inflicted tortures of the 
"flesh" in order to demonstrate their purity of 
spirit. 

As a matter of fact, it was their perversity of 
spirit that was hurting them, rather than the much 
abused flesh, which was simply behaving naturally, 
humanly, and therefore in accordance with the 
will of the Omnipotent. Far from being the godly 
sort the canons and traditions have made them 
out to be, they were simply perverted victims of 
masochism. The records of ascetics and ecstatics 
who flourished in the medieval period offer elo- 
quent testimony of abnormalities due to repres- 
sions, with the consequent hallucinations, visions 
and trances that are so frequently manifested by 
the insane patient of today. 

The victims of hyperesthesia (over-sensitive- 
ness to sexual stimuli) are particularly susceptible 
to puritanical fanaticism ; or at least they are until 
they understand the unconscious motives that 
color their prejudices and dominate their actions. 



266 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

An insight into the situation, of course, will tend 
to bring about a more rational and wholesome 
attitude. Confirmed neurotics of this type, how- 
ever, get too much satisfaction out of their per- 
verse state of mind to allow themselves an insight 
into their obsessions, In addition to the gratifica- 
tion they experience, the inner struggle causes 
them to fear peering too far into their own 
thoughts. They much prefer to project outwardly 
and see in others the disgust which they actually 
feel in themselves. 

Even the hyperaesthetic subject who succumbs 
to his sensuality and becomes a profligate mani- 
fests this same trait. It has been universally noted 
that the Don Juan has the psychology of a prude, 
and is invariably found on the side that opposes 
a rational understanding of, and healthy attitude 
on, sexual questions. An above-board scientific 
discussion of sex is anathema to the libertine. The 
subject to him cannot have a normal, healthy as- 
pect, because his type of mind identifies it with 
obscenity and filth, as does the hyperaesthetic who 
has not fallen publicly from grace. In the popular 
conception, they are morally as far apart as the 
poles, but psychologically, they are identical — ob- 
sessed by the same burning impulses, plagued by 
the same phobias. 

The anaesthetic puritan, on the other hand, 
represents a radically different type of negativ- 
ism. This designation implies frigidity, which in 
its true form is due to low sexual vitality or a 



THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 267 

constitutional organic defect (undeveloped geni- 
tals). Lacking normal sensation, persons of this 
type cannot understand the sexual interest shown 
by normal individuals, and are apt to consider 
them "low" and "vulgar." 

Even the socialized phase of sex expression, as 
in art, literature, the drama, etc., does not interest 
them, because its appeal is lost on their erotically 
anaestheticised organism. However, they are 
usually tolerant. Devoid of strong desires and 
not obsessed by conflicts, they are not impelled to 
compensate for a feeling of guilt by pointing out 
a similar condition, real or imaginary, in others. 

Professional Reformers 

That there is a difference between fostering in 
the community a more clean and wholesome at- 
mosphere, with opportunities for healthy recrea- 
tion, and subjecting the community to iron-bound 
repressions in order to satisfy the irrational and 
often perverted notions of self-appointed moral- 
ists, is quite obvious. The difference between 
these two aims is the difference between rational 
enlightenment and anachronistic fanaticism. 

Making the community a more wholesome, 
healthy place to live in, morally and physically, 
implies more than spectacular outbursts against 
sensuality. It is strange that the typical "re- 
former," if he is really interested in improving 
the moral and physical condition of his fellow- 



268 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

man, so studiously overlooks the wretched hous- 
ing and insanitation that exist in the slums and 
in many outlying country districts and industrial 
settlements, as well as other social and economic 
factors that are directly conducive to the disin- 
tegration of family life. The immorality traceable 
to adverse economic conditions can hardly be over- 
estimated. 

The professional reformer finds no opportunity 
for gratifying his inflated ego in facing the tre- 
mendous problems -of economic and social conse- 
quence. The sensational vice crusader would find 
in the tedious role of constructive educational and 
social work no stimulation to his exaggerated, but 
repressed, sexuality. Hence, he follows a ''call- 
ing" that furnishes him a morbid pleasure. 

Eeformers who describe in elaborate detail 
the iniquities they have investigated are always 
listened to with breathless interest. Billy Sun- 
day's lectures for "men only" and "women only" 
were by far the most popular in the repertoire 
of that versatile evangelist. 

The audience, fascinated by the revelations of 
wickedness and debauchery that are ordinarily 
proscribed in public speech, literally enjoy the un- 
folding of the tabooed theme. The listeners, in 
their engaging phantasies, are identifying them- 
selves with the speaker who has plumbed the 
depths of some interesting "sin." The psycho- 
logical reaction is exactly the same as with the 
readers of the latest sex-motive tragedy which is 



THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 269 

played up and profusely pictured in the sensa- 
tional newspapers. 

"We are told of certain professional reformers 
who have large collections of obscene pictures, 
which are constantly being augmented, and which 
they exhibit occasionally to those they think suffi- 
ciently pure in mind not to be harmed. 

The attempt to meet the problems of vice by the 
application of a non-sensational, scientific pro- 
gram, such as has been undertaken by various 
Social Hygiene organizations, represents the en- 
lightened method, in contrast to the pathological 
activities of oversensual neurotics. 

Modern puritanism is best exemplified in the 
person of the late Anthony Comstock, whose life 
history offers an interesting study from the 
viewpoint of psychopathology. His friend and 
biographer, Charles G. Trumbull, has unwittingly 
given many episodes in his book, Anthony Corn- 
stock, Fighter, which illustrate the morbidity of 
his subject. 

Comstock 's father was an aggressive, puri- 
tanical character, with the sadistic tendencies that 
run true to his type. The story is told that, to 
add refinement to his chastisement, he was accus- 
tomed to send young Anthony out to cut switches 
with which to be whipped for some juvenile 
offense. 

As a youth, Comstock was a strong, husky lad, 
a vital type that would, with his training, have 
to undergo the struggle to suppress the healthy 



270 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

biological instincts of adolescence. Imbued witk 
the puritanical conceptions of St. Paul, which, wero 
stressed in his early religious training, he lived 
over again the old conflicts between the Flesh and 
the Spirit. He conceived the instincts that tor- 
mented him, not as natural forces to be controlled 
and socialized, but as an unregenerate agency to 
be fought and obliterated. 

Comstock, characteristic of the true zealot, be* 
lieved himself to be operating under the direct 
supervision of God in his " fight against the 
Devil. ' ' Perhaps it was more than an unconscious 
association of himself with Christ when he wrote 
in the preface to his volume, Frauds Exposed: 
"I cannot expect to have better treatment than 
our blessed Master." 

Armed with the assurance of his divine backing, 
neither the letter nor the spirit of mundane law 
was inviolable when it conflicted with the higher 
authority. One night in his youth, according to 
his biographer, he "went up to the gin-mill, 
wrenched off a shutter, climbed in, opened the 
faucets and drained off on to the floor every drop 
of liquor in the place. . . ." 

When he entered commercial life, after the war, 
"He had come to know young business men, over 
and over again, whose lives were plainly being 
ruined by their interest in the obscene pictures 
and literature and other devilish things they had 
access to. In his close contact with the young 
business men of the city, he saw them falling about 



THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 271 

him like autumn leaves, withered by the blighting 
touch of the obscenities that were the staple of 
so much commercialized traffic." 

How it must have exalted Anthony's feeling of 
righteousness to have been instrumental in saving 
some of these myriad frail specimens of mascu- 
linity from impending ruin in the lure of porno- 
graphic literature ! 

But the reign of censorship did not end with the 
onslaught on commercialized obscenity. Reputable 
art institutions and accredited medical and so- 
ciological publications were also visited by the 
uninvited wrath of the indefatigable crusader. 

Mr. Comstock went as far as to bring into court 
the clerk in the office of the Art Students' League 
who was giving out a prospectus of his institution 
containing reproductions of specimen drawings 
from the nude that had been made by students 
in the League's life class. 

In 1916, the professional puritans of New York 
succeeded for several months in preventing the 
public sale, on the grounds of obscenity, of The 
Sexual Question by Dr. August Forel. This work 
has been recommended by physicians and edu- 
cators the world over as one of the most able and 
wholesome expositions of sex problems ever writ- 
ten. Dr. C. W. Saleeby, the eminent authority on 
eugenics, says of it in his Parenthood and Race 
Culture: "If the reader desires the name of only 
one book, that is certainly The Sexual Question, 



272 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

by Professor August Forel. This has no rival 
anywhere and cannot be overpraised. ' ' 

But the neurotic censors of our public morals 
thought differently, and it was only when, in the 
face of a wide discussion of the merit of the work, 
they became in danger of public ridicule, that the 
ban was quietly withdrawn. In this, as in many 
instances, it was a recurrence of the old struggle 
between science (knowledge) and fanaticism (ig- 
norance), the latter posing as a moral savior. 



Blanket Social Inhibitions 

On the purely sexual phase of the subject, it 
should be apparent to all that sex truths are in- 
finitely more desirable than sex lies, which are 
bound to creep in if the truth is barred out. But 
the fact is the term "sex," and everything asso- 
ciated with it, so unbalances the neurotic puritan 
that he cannot seem to discriminate between the 
clean and wholesome on the one hand, and the 
perverted and degraded on the other. 

The idea of putting this type of person in a 
position of authority over matters that affect the 
lives, health and happiness of the people would 
be grotesque if it were not so tragic. It is like 
permitting engineers who can not distinguish be- 
tween danger and safety signals to run railroad 
trains. 

Sex, too, has its danger and safety signals, but 



THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 273 

the sexually color-blind fanatics are unable to dis- 
tinguish one from the other. 

In commenting on the blanket inhibitions of or- 
ganized puritanism by attempting to control 
private life through the police power and other 
repressive means, Professor Franklin H. Giddings 
offers the following incisive remarks : 2 

". . . It will attempt to prohibit many amuse- 
ments that are in no sense public nuisances and 
to oversee others, to censor books, plays, news- 
papers and works of art, to dictate medical 
prescriptions, to inspect and measure the clothing 
of women, to prohibit tobacco as it has prohibited 
wine, and to say how adults may and may not 
spend their time on Sunday. This program makes 
a strong appeal to fanatics, to morons unable to 
pass the Alpha intelligence test who throng re- 
vival meetings, and above all, to the hosts (that 
Michael and Gabriel working in shifts could not 
number) of men and women incompetent to earn 
a decent living in the competent professions for 
whom the enterprise of making people good by 
law provides salaries at the expense of tax- 
payers." 

Even a superficial understanding of the crusad- 
ing puritan and professional reformer reveals the 
pleasure-motive as the goal of his satisfaction. 
All aggressive persons of this general type are 
pronouncedly sadistic in their psychological make- 

3 From "Can the Church Be Saved?" The Independent, August 
20, 1921. 



274 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

up, and no small part of their satisfaction is iii 
the exhilarating feeling they experience over the 
punishment of their victims. The elimination of 
the evil, real or fancied, is actually secondary to 
the infliction of the punishment. 

In considering these characteristics, we recur 
to an early prototype, Tertullian, one of the 
Church Fathers, who is said to have declared that 
one of the principal pleasures of the saints in 
heaven is to gaze over the battlements at sinners 
suffering in the flames of hell below. 

The puritanical type of mind is notoriously 
innocent of constructive qualities. All its fre- 
quently remarkable energy is devoted to repres- 
sion and suppression, without much sense of dis- 
crimination between the helpful and the harmful. 
The negative impulsiveness, or lack of coordina- 
tion with reality, is the hallmark of the neurotic. 

The puritan feels within himself the sway of 
the elemental urges. Not understanding them, 
and feeling them to be in conflict with his ethics 
and ideals, he fights and struggles to overcome 
them. The negativism of his life is the result of 
this psychological conflict. Instead of accepting 
his biological heritage, and adapting it to the re- 
quirements of social life, he blindly attempts to 
deny his primitive personality: the Caveman is 
disowned. But he nevertheless exists, and behaves 
the worse for the irreconcilable treatment ac- 
corded him. 



THE CAVEMAN DISOWNED 275 



BIBLIOGKAPHY 

Schroeder, Theodore, Free Press Anthology, New York, 
1909. 

Mencken, H. L., A Book of Prefaces, New York, 1919. 

Comstock, Anthony, Frauds Exposed, New York, 1880. 

Trumbull, C. G., Anthony Comstock, Fighter, New 
York, 1913. 

Schroeder, Theodore, Obscene Literature and Constitu- 
tional Law, New York, 1911. 

Rinaldo, Joel, Psychoanalysis of the Reformer, New 
York, 1921. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 

Men of genius summarize in a single type many separate 
personalities, and bring new persons to consciousness in 
the human race. — Gustave Flaubert. 

There is a common tendency to accept genius 
as the acme of human perfection. This conception 
is largely due to the indiscriminate lauding of 
"great men" in biographical and historical works. 
Their wonderful achievements are pointed out, in 
some cases exaggerated, and their weaknesses and 
shortcomings are often ignored, or concealed in 
a gloss of romance. Besides, time tends to smooth 
over the rough edges of character, and obscure the 
faults of personality, leaving only the outstanding 
accomplishments to be observed and admired. 
And as most geniuses achieve a full measure of 
recognition long after they are dead, the memories 
which survive are centered upon their supreme 
attainments rather than upon their personalities. 

A critical review of the lives of the world's 
greatest geniuses, however, demonstrates that 
their marvellous capacities for achievement were 
often balanced by character weaknesses and neu- 
ropathic traits of proportional magnitude. 

276 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 277 

These luminous individuals had developed their 
intellectual or emotional powers to an extraor- 
dinary degree, but they had not overcome, or 
eliminated, the Caveman within themselves. Not 
only had he not been eliminated, but he was ever 
asserting himself, as positively as in the most or- 
dinary man on the street, and much more effec- 
tively. 

The meteor of genius runs the gamut of all the 
psychoses, neuroses, hysterias, obsessions, hallu- 
cinations, epilepsies, and other derangements. 
Forms of insanity are by no means uncommon. 
All of these manifestations are evidences of the 
Caveman coming in contact with the restrictions 
of his environment. It is a conflict between the 
primitive, elemental urges and the requirements 
of society — some necessary and constructive, 
others ridiculous and even destructive. 

There has been wide speculation as to the na- 
ture and cause of genius. Locke, Helvetius and 
other early authorities ascribed all intellectual 
superiority to education. A later group, under 
the influence of Galton, has given all credit to 
heredity. Schopenhauer makes the statement that 
"genius is simply the completest objectivity; i.e., 
the objective tendency of the mind, as opposed to 
the subjective, which is directed to one's own 
self." 

Genius, according to Goethe, is only related to 
its time by its defects. Oliver Wendell Holmes 
conceived genius to be a "creating and informing 



278 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

spirit which is with us and not of us." Dr. John- 
son maintained that genius resulted from a mind 
of large general powers being turned in a par- 
ticular direction. 

A number of distinguished thinkers, notably 
Lombroso, have insisted that genius is closely 
allied to insanity, and the famous Italian psy- 
chiatrist gives a vast amount of evidence in sub- 
stantiation of this claim. 

Other competent observers have asserted that 
genius is a condition far removed from mental 
disorder. Charles Lamb, overlooking the fact that 
he himself had been confined in an asylum, stated : 
"The greatest wits (or genius in the modern 
sense) will be found to be the sanest writers." 

Herbert Spencer regarded the great man as the 
product of many coordinated social influences 
over which he personally has no control. Nisbet 
accepts a similar view, tinged with a degree of 
mechanistic fatalism, maintaining that genius is 
essentially a manifestation of nerve energy, and 
that the scope of a man's faculties is necessarily 
determined by a physical organization over which 
he has no control. 

William James, with his characteristic original- 
ity, offered this view: "The causes of production 
of great men lie in a sphere wholly inaccessible 
to the social philosopher. He must accept geniuses 
as data, just as Darwin accepts his spontaneous 
variations. For him, as for Darwin, the only 
problem is: How does the environment affect 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 279 

them, and how do they affect the environment? 
Now, I affirm that the relation of the visible en- 
vironment to the great man is in the main exactly 
what it is to the 'variation' in the Darwinian 
philosophy. It chiefly adopts or rejects, preserves 
or distorts — in short selects himu ' ' 

Artistic Genius 

All of these ideas of genius are interesting, some 
really enlightening. Bat, after all, it is not so 
much opinions we are after as the evidence to 
form our own conclusions regarding the two-sided 
character of genius — the creative, social side, and 
the primitive, unadaptive side. 

Space will not permit giving even the most cur- 
sory resume of all the material that is available 
in this connection. It will therefore be possible 
to consider only the more notable characters in 
the history of art, literature, philosophy, states- 
manship, science and religion, and to allude to 
some of the pathological evidences. 

The family correspondence of Michel Angelo 
shows him to have been of a suspicious, irritable 
nature, wanting in calm judgment, which led to 
continuous trouble to himself end his friends. 
Nothing but a morbid condition of mind could 
explain his violent letters and frequent explosions 
of temper. Some of his greatest works were pro- 
duced while he was afflicted with severe nervous 
ailments. At the age of fifty-six he is described 



280 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

as suffering from sleeplessness, weak sight, pains 
in the head and giddiness. In 1544, when the artist 
was ill in Rome, he wrote to his nephew, who 
hastened to his bedside: "You are come to kill 
me, and to see what I leave behind. ..." He left 
a confession of his morbid melancholy in a letter 
to Sebastiano del Piombo: "Yesterday evening I 
was happy because I escaped from my mad and 
melancholy humor. ' ' 

Biographical sketches of other old masters give 
facts from which significant inferences are to be 
drawn by the student of psycho- and neuro- 
pathology. Leonardo da Vinci suffered from 
paralysis, which incapacitated his right arm; 
Vandyck was melancholic, and died at forty-one 
of "disappointment "; Eaphael, addicted to sexual 
excesses, died at thirty-seven; Rubens died of a 
nervous gout, which attacked him at fifty; Sal- 
vator Rosa degenerated into imbecility; Ben- 
venuto Cellini had hallucinations of sight in the 
form of ecstatic visions; Giorgione, remarkable 
for his big body and big head, lived a wild life 
and was notorious for his erotic adventures. 

Turner, the renowned landscape painter, who 
possessed a surpassing faculty for colour, had a 
mind whose general cast was little above the level 
of the idiot. Sir Joshua Reynolds, at the height 
of his fame, suffered a stroke of paralysis, and 
later felt a sudden decay of sight of his left eye, 
which resulted in total blindness of that eye. John 
Flaxman, the "father of English sculpture" in- 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 281 

herited a rickety, misshapen body, which in early 
years required the support of crutches. George 
Morland, whose father and grandfather were also 
painters, drew wonderfully at six years of age. 
From the age of sixteen, he was a drunkard, a 
spendthrift, and loafer, with the most vulgar 
tastes. Fuseli, Lawrence, Liversege, Wilkie, Mac- 
lise, Dore and Meissonier, also showed evidence 
of pronounced nerve-disorder. 

In the musical world, Beethoven displayed ec- 
centricities which bordered upon insanity. He 
was notoriously absent-minded and impractical. 
From the age of thirty he gradually lost his hear- 
ing, and in his later years was completely deaf. 
Mozart, who showed musical genius at the age of 
four or five, inherited nervous troubles from both 
parents. During the composition of the "Re- 
quiem," he labored under the delusion that he was 
being poisoned, frequently fainted and became 
partially paralysed. In his thirty-sixth year, he 
died of inflammation of the brain. Chopin during 
the early years of his life was subject to a melan- 
choly which went as far as insanity. 

Mendelssohn suffered from epilepsy, had shiv- 
ering fits and headaches, followed by periods of 
unconsciousness. These disorders grew worse 
until his death at the age of thirty-seven. Wagner 
was a reckless and disorderly boy, infected 
with the wildest mysticism. "The most striking 
thing about Wagner, ' ' said one of his biographers, 
"was the extraordinary energy that animated his 






282 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

frail body, with its disproportionately large head 
and brow. Impatient, nervous, irritable, he seemed 
to take pleasure in rending in pieces men and 
things. ' ' 

Weber sank into melancholia and died of con- 
sumption at the age of forty- two. Schubert's con- 
stitution was worn out at thirty-one. Paga-nini, 
an inveterate gambler, was epileptic and consump- 
tive. Schumann and Donizetti had nervous dis- 
orders which attained the proportions of insanity. 
Both became paralysed. Schumann was seized 
with suicidal impulses, while Donizetti, in his later 
years, was confined in a lunatic asylum. After 
a fit of savage anger, in which Donizetti had 
beaten his wife, he composed, sobbing, the cele- 
brated air, Tu che a Bio spiegasti V ali, which led 
Lombroso to observe, "a remarkable instance of 
the double nature of personality in men of genius, 
and at the same time of their moral insensibility. ,, 



Literary Genius 

Probably no major poet has had a more un- 
happy heritage of neurotic morbidity than Byron. 
"Some curse," he wrote to a friend, " hangs over 
me and mine. ' ' His father ' l Mad Jack Byron" led 
a dissolute life, and his mother was a woman of 
very unbalanced temperament. She even mocked 
her son as being "a lame brat." Byron, as a 
child, feared this unnatural mother, and as a man 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 283 

he despised her. His life in Venice was marked 
by the grossest excesses and the keenest nervous 
suffering. Jeafferson, his biographer, informs us : 
' ' His harem on the Grand Canal to which he gath- 
ered frail women from the homes of artisans and 
the cabins of suburban peasants, was fruitful of 
scandals. ... At night he would roll in agony 
through long assaults of acute dyspepsia, more 
often lie in melancholy moodiness and endure the 
torture of afflicting hallucinations. ..." 

So little is known of Shakespeare's life that it 
is quite impossible to obtain authentic information 
about his personality. Towards the close of the 
eighteenth century, Steevens gave the substance 
of a biography of the Bard of Avon in these 
words: "All that is known with any degree of 
certainty concerning Shakespeare is that he was 
born at Stratford-on-Avon, married, and had chil- 
dren there, went to London, where he became an 
actor, wrote poems and plays, returned to Strat- 
ford, made his will, died and was buried. " 
Thomas Kenny (Life and Genius of Shakespeare), 
accepting the sonnets, in common with most Eng- 
lish commentators, as pure autobiographical ma- 
terial, finds that they exhibit throughout a "teem- 
ing, unchecked, more or less disordered profusion 
of thought and imagery in the mind of the writer.' ' 
Without any conception of the physiological in- 
fluences on genius, Kenny concludes, from Shakes- 
peare f s unrivalled faculty of transporting himself 
into the state of mind of every character of human 



284 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

being, that the poet could not have possessed a 
very resolute character of his own. 

Charles Lamb and his talented sister, Mary, 
were both subject to fits of insanity. Charles was 
confined for six weeks in a madhouse about his 
twentieth year — the period at which he wrote most 
of his sonnets. 

William Blake, a contemporary of Charles 
Lamb, is a conspicuous example of the genius who 
dwells on the borderline of insanity. He had hal- 
lucinations of hearing — "celestial voices seemed 
to call to him." Later, hallucinations of sight 
beset him. He lived in the midst of historical 
figures of poets, heroes, and princes, which he 
took for reality. Moses, Homer, Virgil, D'ante, 
and Milton were his constant companions in 
visions. 

Swift's insanity was congenital. At Dublin 
University, he led a wild, nervous life, for which 
he was severely censured by the academic authori- 
ties. He suffered at various times from giddiness, 
deafness, impaired sight, muscle twitchings and 
paralysis of the muscles — all symptoms of brain 
disease. 

Concerning Dr. Johnson, Boswell writes : "John- 
son, who was blest with all the powers of genius 
and understanding, in a degree far above the or- 
dinary state of human nature, was, at the same 
time, visited with a disorder so afflictive that they 
who know it by dire experience will not envy him 
his exalted endowments." The idea that he was 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 285 

on the road to insanity particularly obsessed him. 

Cowper, a chronic sufferer, fell into melancholia 
at twenty-one. In his autobiography he says: 
' ' Day and night, I was upon the rack, lying down 
in horror and rising up in despair." He also 
described minutely his attempts at suicide — "the 
dark and hellish purpose of self-murder ' ' — and 
how they were foiled. 

Not long before Southey sank into imbecility, 
Carlyle wrote : ' ' How has this man contrived, with 
such a nervous system, to keep alive for near sixty 
years ? How has he not been torn to pieces long 
since under such furious pulling this way and 
that?" 

Goldsmith lived the life of a ne'er-do-well. He 
was always in debt, notwithstanding that he re- 
ceived liberal support from his family. Referring 
to a continental tour, one writer stated that Gold- 
smith "disputed his way through Europe." He 
was corrected by a contemporary who said that 
he "begged his way through Europe." The 
nervous affliction from which he died displayed its 
most clearly defined symptom in a violent pain 
extending all over the fore part of his head. 

Milton was subject to nervous disorders, of 
which his optic troubles and final blindness were 
manifestations. He lived most unhappily with his 
daughters, who found him harsh and tyrannical. 
He thought them undutiful and accused them of 
cheating him in money matters and stealing his 
books in order to sell them. 



286 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

When Robert Burns said that poets have a 
"stronger imagination, more delicate sensibility 
and a more ungovernable set of passions" than 
other men, he spoke from experience. He died at 
thirty-seven, as an immediate result of drunken- 
ness and exposure, but it is improbable that his 
irritable and nervous constitution, inherited from 
his father, predisposed to longevity. 

Sir Walter Scott showed pathological symptoms 
from his infancy. Paralysis and apoplexy were 
the afflictions of his later years. Upon the death 
of Byron, he experienced an alarming hallucina- 
tion, believing that he saw the image of his de- 
ceased friend. 

As a child, Keats was vioient and ungovernable, 
and manifested emotional extremes. During his 
short life — he died at twenty-five — this brilliant 
poet suffered much mental and physical anguish. 
His agitation, under the attacks of critics, is said 
by Shelley to have resembled insanity. His pas- 
sions were so strong that he had to calm his nerves 
with laudanum. 

Shelley was subject to pronounced hallucina- 
tions. At Eton, he was known as "Mad Shelley.'' 
Hogg writes that he had "singular caprices, un- 
founded frights, and dislikes, vain apprehensions 
and panic terrors. ' ' 

"All biographies begin with genealogy," ob- 
served Bulwer Lytton, "and with reason, for 
many of the influences that sway the destiny that 
ends in the grave, are already formed before the 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 287 

mortal utters his first wail in the cradle." The 
truth of this statement was never more evident 
than in Lord Lytton's own case, as the eccentrici- 
ties of both sides of his family were combined in 
him. In early manhood, Lytton's disposition took 
a morbid and even dangerous inclination. From 
the first days of his marriage, he mistreated his 
wife by biting, kicking and otherwise insulting her. 

As a boy, Dickens was sickly and puny, and 
subject to attacks of violent spasms. He appeared 
to have outgrown this feebleness with early man- 
hood, but as he advanced in years he became rest- 
less and irritable, suffering from gout and in- 
cipient paralysis. At fifty-eight he died from 
effusion of blood upon the brain. 

In addition to these representative figures in 
the world of literature, space will permit only a 
brief comment on a few others. At school Balzac 
had an epileptic seizure. Flaubert suffered from 
epilepsy from his twenty-third year and his nerv- 
ous attacks rendered him morose and unsociable 
during the remainder of his life. Alexander 
Pumas in his later years became an imbecile. 
Wilkie Collins was an acute sufferer from his 
nerves, which led him to form the laudanum habit. 
His head was misshapen. De Quincey, the opium- 
eater, was a victim of general nervous irritability. 

Heine became paralysed at forty-seven. Schil- 
ler passed through a melancholic period during 
which he was suspected of insanity. De Foe had 
an attack of apoplexy about his fiftieth year. 



288 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Henry Fielding's constitution was shattered by 
gout at forty, and lie had a son paralysed. Dos- 
toevsky was an epileptic, morbid and selfish. Tol- 
stoy had hallucinations, and was in constant 
conflict with reality. 

Fits of depression beset George Eliot in woman- 
hood, and she complained of " terrible headaches." 
Eccentricity pervaded the Bronte family, which 
affected the three famous sisters, Charlotte, Emily 
and Anne. The neurotic proclivities of Edgar 
Allan Poe are well known. As a child, Coleridge 
was weak, self-absorbed, and morbidly imagina- 
tive. Thomas Chatterton, who has been considered 
the most precocious literary genius the world has 
ever known, committed suicide in his eighteenth 
year. Nathaniel Lee, whose compositions were 
praised by Addison, wrote poems and tragedies 
^vhile confined in Bedlam. 

Political and Military Genius 

There is a common impression that, whatever 
the defects of genius may be, they are confined 
pretty much exclusively to persons of artistic and 
literary faculty. As a matter of fact, no type of 
genius escapes its biological heritage. If it did 
it would cease to be human. And all genius, not- 
withstanding its great development in one or more 
directions, is basically human — sometimes ' ' all too 
human. ' ' 

From the earliest times of which we have record, 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 289 

eccentricities of character and instability of tem- 
perament have been noted in great military com- 
manders. Alexander the Great inherited his 
genius for leadership and no less his pathological 
nature. His father, Philip, had a violent temper 
and was addicted to drunkenness and debauchery ; 
his mother, Olympias, was a dissolute, incorrigible 
woman, who, it is said, previous to his birth, had 
a vision of her son's greatness. Alexander died 
in his thirty-second year from sensual excesses. 
Perhaps he wept for other reasons than because 
there were no more worlds to conquer. Neuro- 
pathic symptoms are evidenced by an affection of 
the muscles of the neck, which forced him from 
birth to incline his head to one side. His brother, 
put to death by order of Olympias, was an idiot. 

Julius Caesar, according to the authority of 
Suetonius, became subject to epileptic fits toward 
the close of his life. This is confirmed by Plutarch 
who states that Caesar fell into convulsions dur- 
ing the battle of Thapsus. 

Pronounced nerve-disorders beset Napoleon 
Bonaparte, as well as his brothers and sisters. 
From boyhood, the little Corsican was irritable, 
morose, obstinate, domineering, and without trace 
of conscience. He suffered from habitual spasms 
of the right shoulder and of the lips. ' ' My nerves 
are irritable," Taine quotes him as having said 
of himself, and the former adds, ''the tension of 
accumulated impressions sometimes produced a 
physical convulsion." From the peculiar form 



290 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

and illegibility of his handwriting, Abbe Michon, 
the graphologist, maintained that Napoleon evi- 
denced a morbid excitability of the motor centers, 
characteristic of insanity. 

Wellington was decidedly an epileptic. During 
his career as a statesman, after the battle of 
Waterloo, his fainting fits were a subject of alarm 
to the nation. 

The neuropathic taint of the Bomanofr" family 
clearly showed itself in Peter the Great. He was 
afflicted from infancy with nervous attacks which 
degenerated into epilepsy. His son, by Catherine, 
was similarly affected. One of these seizures is 
said to have held him stricken for three days. 

Charles V, the greatest European sovereign of 
the sixteenth century, had a double heritage of 
insanity. He was a son of the insane Juana (who 
was kept in confinement for many years) and 
Archduke Philip, whose family also showed evi- 
dence of marked mental disorders. Charles stam- 
mered, was subject to melancholia, and showed 
strong scrofulous symptoms. His genius asserted 
itself in extraordinary mental power and intel- 
lectual versatility. 

At the age of forty, Clive had conquered India 
and achieved a world-wide reputation and untold 
wealth. As far as book-learning is concerned, he 
was almost illiterate, but he was of the dominating 
type, and displayed marvellous capacity for 
leadership. Between his flights of emotional ex- 
citement and impetuosity, he suffered from de- 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 291 

pression of spirits, and committed suicide at forty- 
nine. 

Frederick the Great combined the mad military 
proclivities and sadism of his father, Frederick 
William, with an intellectual vigor and passionate 
love of music and literature. His heartlessness 
could only be measured in terms of pathology — 
as Macaulay expressed it, "A nature to which the 
sight of human suffering and human degradation 
is an agreeable excitement." 

The youth of Oliver Cromwell is said to have 
been given over to low, boisterous, dissolute ways, 
the truth of which is confirmed by his letters. He 
had a fiery temper, and strong neuropathic ten- 
dencies marked his conduct throughout life, as 
they did his whole family. 

The well-rounded genius of Richelieu was mani- 
fested in ecclesiasticism, in statesmanship and in 
literature. Still, the Old Adam asserted himself 
in an epileptic state. Moreau informs us that on 
one occasion the Cardinal, in a fit, believed he was 
a horse, and neighed and jumped; afterwards he 
knew nothing of what had taken place. 

No greater names are to be found in the annals 
of statesmanship than those of the Pitts, father 
and son. The elder Pitt, known as the Earl of 
Chatham, suffered from gout, which alternated 
with true mental aberration. Junius, in one of 
his early letters, referred to Chatham as a lunatic 
brandishing a crutch. According to Lord Mahon, 



292 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

he suffered ' ' a dismal and complete eclipse of his 
powers for upward of a year." 

William Pitt inherited his father's genius for 
administration and debate, together with the pa- 
ternal gout. At twenty-five, he had not only risen 
to leadership in Parliament, but was Prime Min- 
ister. He was the victim of nervous disorders 
which culminated in the form of " flying gout," of 
which he died at forty-seven. 

The greatest Victorian statesman, Benjamin 
Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) was subject to fits 
of giddiness, which he described as like a con- 
sciousness of the earth's rotation. Once he fell 
into a trance, from which he did not recover for 
a week. 

That the sensitive soul of Lincoln was haunted 
constantly by the shadow of morbidity is not popu- 
larly known. His quaint humor and ready wit 
(unconscious attempts to compensate for the 
gloom that pervaded his consciousness) have 
taken the public eye from his soul-suffering, which, 
however, was indelibly impressed upon his coun- 
tenance. On the day set for his wedding to Mary 
Todd, Lincoln did not present himself for the 
ceremony. He was found, near daybreak, wander- 
ing about. "Restless, gloomy, miserable, des- 
perate, he seemed an object of pity." For days 
he was watched closely and all knives and razors 
were removed from his reach. He said, "I am 
the most miserable man living." Two years after 
the death of his first fiancee, Anne Rutledge, he 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 293 

told a member of the Legislature of his State that 
" although he seemed to enjoy life rapturously, 
yet when alone he never dared carry a pocket- 
knife. , ' 



Philosophic and Scientific Genius 

Not even the luminaries of philosophic and 
scientific genius, which assumes the highest devel- 
opment of the rational mind, have escaped the 
outbreaks of the Caveman. It is a long way back 
to Socrates, and the information we have con- 
cerning his temperament may be fragmentary, but 
there is corroboration of evidence which tends to 
prove that the father of philosophy was eccentric 
to an extreme degree. Many years ago, Lelut, the 
French physiologist, wrote a treatise proving that, 
on the testimony of his disciples, Socrates suf- 
fered, if not from insanity, at all events from sen- 
sorial hallucinations. He had long reveries or 
ecstatic fits ; and he believed himself to be attended 
by a familiar spirit whose voice he heard. 

To no single group is science more indebted than 
to the early astronomers, and yet nerve disorders 
afflicted these in some instances with disastrous 
results. Copernicus died of apoplexy, and before 
his death was "paralysed both in mind and body." 
Galileo, who finally became blind and totally deaf, 
was subject from his youth to chronic disorders 
accompanied by acute pains in his body, and loss 
of sleep and appetite. Tycho Brahe became weak- 



294 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

minded in his later days, and died at forty-four. 
Kepler was sickly as a child and died at sixty 
of a violent fever accompanied by a brain disease 
which baffled the skill of his physicians. 

Newton suffered from mental aberration as his 
actions, and correspondence with Pepys, Locke 
and others, shows only too well. In explaining a 
most unreasonable letter to Pepys, Millington says 
of Newton: "He told me that he had written to 
you a very odd letter at which he was much con- 
cerned, and that he had done it under the influence 
of a distemper that seized his head, and kept him 
awake for five nights together." 

A maternal heritage of nerve-disorder mani- 
fested itself unmistakably in Bacon's life. A con- 
temporary writer says of him: "His infirmity is 
given out to be gout. . . . But in truth the general 
opinion is that he hath so tender a constitution, 
both in body and mind, that he will hardly be able 
to undergo the burden of so much as his place 
requires. ' ' 

Giddiness and loss of memory attacked Fara- 
day before his fiftieth year, although he lived to 
the age of seventy-five. Cuvier died of a nervous 
affliction, and his children of brain disease. Har- 
vey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, 
was gouty, violent tempered, and given to eccen- 
tricities. 

Kant in his declining years became imbecile. 
Descartes had hallucinations of hearing, believing 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 295 

himself followed about by an invisible person, who 
entreated him to continue his researches. 

In 1826, August Comte, founder of Positivism, 
fell into a state of insanity, and for nearly a year 
was confined in Esquirol's asylum. Two years 
later he published his Cours de Philosophie Posi- 
tive, the i 'fruit of fourteen years' labor." He was 
vindictive in spirit and it is not known whether 
he ever forgave an injury. 

Pascal, all his life a victim of extreme nervous 
suffering, was also subject to hallucinations, one 
of which was that there was a yawning abyss by 
his side. As a child he had a sort of hydrophobia, 
being unable to look upon water without falling 
into convulsions. Epileptic fits were the cause of 
his death. 

John Stuart Mill was seized during the autumn 
of 1826, at the age of twenty, by an attack of in- 
sanity, which he himself could only describe in the 
following words of Coleridge 's : 

A grief without a pang, void, dark and drear, 
A drowsy, stifled, unimpassioned grief, 
Which finds no natural outlet or relief 
In word, or sigh, or tear. 

James Watt, the inventor, was physically an in- 
valid. In his youth, he suffered agony from con- 
tinued and violent headaches, which often affected 
his nervous system, and left him for days, even 
weeks, languid, depressed, and fanciful; at which 



296 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

times there was a roughness and asperity in his 
manner that softened with returning health. 

In Jean Jacques Bousseau, we find a fertile 
mind that was plagued by a many-sided morbidity. 
He was in turn a hypochondriac, a melancholiac, 
and finally a maniac. One has only to read his 
Confessions, his Dialogues, and his Reveries, ta 
gain an insight into the mental tortures of a mono- 
maniac. No longer able to put trust in any mortal, 
he turned like Pascal, to God, to whom he ad- 
dressed a very tender and familiar letter ; and in 
order to ensure the arrival of his letter at its 
destination, he placed it, together with the manu- 
script of the Dialogues, on the altar of Notre- 
Dame at Paris. Then, having found the railing 
closed, he suspected a conspiracy of Heaven 
against him. 

Voltaire was hypochondriacal. ' * With respect to 
my body," he wrote, "it is moribund ... I an- 
ticipate dropsy. There is no appearance of it, but 
you know that there is nothing so dry as a drop- 
sical person. Diseases, more cruel than kings, are 
persecuting me. Doctors are only needed to finish 
me. ..." His friend Grimm said he was even 
very angry when one dared to assure him that he 
was still full of strength and life. 

Megalomania — delusions of grandeur — was not 
only the portion of Dante, Hugo, Heine, Balzac, 
Chopin, Bruno, and other celebrities, but Hegel, 
apparently was impressed with his own divinity. 
He began a lecture with these words : "I may say 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 297 

with Christ, that not only do I teach truth, but 
that I am myself truth. ' ' 

The statement of Lombroso that the most com- 
plete type of madness in genius is presented in 
Schopenhauer, may be too sweeping. Neverthe- 
less, Schopenhauer's life represents some amaz- 
ing incongruities of thought and deed. "From 
my youth, ' ' he writes, ' ' I have always been melan- 
choly." Like Rousseau, he was frightened by 
imaginary diseases. In Switzerland, the Alps 
aroused in him sadness rather than admiration. 
He was contradiction personified. He denounced 
women, and at the same time proved himself too 
warm an admirer of them. He preached sexual 
abstinence as a duty, but did not practise it him- 
self. He was a great rebel in philosophy, although 
he had nothing but contempt for political revolu- 
tionaries ; and bequeathed his fortune to men who 
had contributed to repress by arms the noble 
political aspirations of his countrymen in 1848. 

The genius of Frederick Nietzsche, fired with 
an iconoclastic ardor, influenced by the pessimism 
of Schopenhauer, and aiming ever at a perfection- 
ist goal, finally burnt itself out in the crucible of 
hopeless insanity. For a quarter of a century be- 
fore his death in 1900, he suffered from excru- 
ciating headaches, induced by brain and eye affec- 
tions. 

"A man's genius is no sinecure," said Carlyle's 
wife, a most intelligent and cultivated woman. 
She spoke from bitter experience, as his irritabil- 



298 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

ity was excessive, and he treated her with gross 
inconsideration. In his diary, he gives us a glimpse 
of the turbulence within him in these words: 
"Nerves all inflamed and torn up, body and mind 
in a hag-ridden condition." For many years be- 
fore his death his right hand was palsied. 

Even such a constructive, scientific genius as 
Darwin was a victim of pronounced neuropathic 
symptoms. His will power and trained mind prob- 
ably prevented outbursts that would have char- 
acterized a less methodical person. He had bad 
days when he suffered from "swimming in the 
head," or giddiness (frequently the equivalent of 
epilepsy). Like all neuropaths, he could bear 
neither heat nor cold. Half an hour of conversa- 
tion beyond his habitual time was sufficient to 
cause insomnia and hinder his work on the follow- 
ing day. The difficulties in articulation of speech 
which he experienced are also indications of a 
brain disorder or neurotic affection. Nervous 
afflictions also beset his father and grandfather, 
both men of extraordinary ability and versatility, 
and the noted Wedgwood family, one of whom was 
Charles Darwin's mother, and another (his cousin) 
became his wife. 

Among the disorders mentioned in these pages, 
the frequent occurrence of gout will be noted. 
While popularly believed to be a result of high 
living, gout is known to be an important member 
of the various nerve disorders. Bouchard, a 
French authority, finds it intimately associated 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 299 

with insanity, epilepsy, hypochondria, asthma, St. 
Vitus 's dance, etc. Suppressed gout may cause 
paralysis, hallucinations or attacks of mania. 
These troubles cease when the gout returns to the 
joints. 

Religious Genius 

The prophetic visions of the founders of re- 
ligions and sects, it need hardly be necessary to 
say, were ideas projected from their own uncon- 
scious mind. In boyhood, Mohammed had several 
epileptic seizures, the first occurring when he was 
four years of age. This caused great alarm to 
his nurse, who thought he was possessed by an 
evil spirit. His temperament was nervous and 
melancholic. More than once he attempted suicide 
and his friends were apprehensive over the state 
of his mind. Walking on the hill near Mecca one 
day, he heard "a voice from Heaven," and look- 
ing upwards he beheld Gabriel sitting with crossed 
legs upon a throne between Heaven and earth. 
The angel cried out to him, "0 Mohammed, thou 
art in truth the messenger of God and I am 
Gabriel." After this, there came to him at fre- 
quent intervals the revelations set forth in the 
Koran. 

Gautama Buddha, the Enlightened One, fasting 
under the sacred Bo tree, or tree of wisdom, 
fought out the inner struggle between desires and 
the will to renunciation. It is said that he re- 



300 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

mained fasting in this spot for ' ' seven times seven 
nights and days, until the archangel Brahma came 
and ministered to him." 

St. Paul presents an interesting psychological 
study, and all of his attitudes and expressions 
sustain the opinion that he was swayed by a strong 
neurotic temperament, which he designated as * ' a 
thorn in the flesh." His attitude toward women, 
which has so strongly influenced the Christian 
Church in this respect, is typical of the obses- 
sional neurosis when it is bound up with a 
feminine phobia. His conversion was the result 
of a hallucinatory experience. As the enthusiastic 
leader of the younger Pharisees, he was among 
the fiercest persecutors of the Christians. Hear- 
ing that there was a certain number of disciples 
at Damascus, he demanded of the high priest a 
warrant for their arrest, and left Jerusalem in a 
disturbed state of mind. On approaching the plain 
of Damascus at noon he had a seizure, evidently 
of an epileptic nature, in which he fell to the 
ground unconscious. Soon thereafter he experi- 
enced a hallucination and saw Jesus himself, 
who said to him in Hebrew: "Saul, Saul, why 
persecutest me 1 " At Antioch he had a hallucina- 
tion similar to that of Mohammed at a later 
period ; he felt himself rapt into the third heaven, 
where he heard unspeakable words, which "it is 
not lawful for a man to utter." 

Luther was subject to attacks of giddiness, and 
he has given accounts of hallucinations he had 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 301 

experienced. He attributed his physical pains and 
his dreams to the arts of the devil, but his descrip- 
tions of them give us a clear picture of nervous 
phenomena. 

Ignatius Loyola, after a wound, turned his 
thoughts to religious subjects and, fearful of the 
Lutheran revolt, planned and founded the ' ' Great 
Company" (the Jesuits). He believed that he 
received the personal assistance of the Virgin 
Mary in his projects, and heard heavenly voices 
encouraging him to persevere in them. 

Hallucinations were the mainspring of the 
achievements of Joan of Arc. From the age of 
thirteen (significant as the climacteric period of 
puberty), supernatural voices and visions began 
to manifest themselves to her. She seldom heard 
voices without seeing a light, and when visited by 
the angels Gabriel, St. Catherine and Michael, she 
was kissed by these celestials and "felt they had 
a good odor." 

Francis of Assisi, sensitive, aesthetic and loving, 
reacted to the mystic influences of his environment 
by having visions. On one occasion he thought 
he saw Jesus nailed to the cross, and felt the "pas- 
sion of Christ impressed even upon his bowels, 
upon the marrow of his bones, so that he could 
not keep his thoughts fixed upon it without being 
overpowered with grief. ' ' 

Under the influence of a vision, Savonarola be- 
lieved himself, even from his youth, sent by Christ 
to redeem the country from corruption. One day, 



302 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

while speaking to a nun, it seemed to him that 
heaven suddenly opened; and he saw in a vision 
the calamities of the Church and heard a voice 
commanding him to announce them to the people. 

In the midst of a religious revival, Joseph Smith 
sought divine guidance that he might know which 
of all the conflicting churches was the true Church 
of Christ. In answer to his prayer, the Father 
and the Son, two of the Holy Trinity, he con- 
tended, appeared to him in a vision, and forbade 
him to join any of the churches then existing. 
Directed by the angel, he found the " golden 
plates," containing a divine message to the faith- 
ful, and established in 1830 the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly known as 
Mormonism. 

Swedenborg believed that he had spoken with 
the spirits of the various planets for whole days. 
John Bunyan, violent and passionate in boyhood, 
saw evil spirits in monstrous shapes, orgies of 
devils, archangels and what not. George Fox, the 
founder of Quakerism, experienced frequent vi- 
sions, and every fantastic impulse that swayed 
him, he considered an inspiration from on high. 
Wickliffe was a victim of paralysis, from which 
he died. 

In recounting these irrational and primitive 
manifestations experienced by some representa- 
tive men and women of genius in various channels 
of activity, it should be needless to say that there 
is no intention to detract from or minimize their 



THE CAVEMAN AND THE GENIUS 303 

great achievements. Their works speak for them- 
selves ; and by their works they shall be known. 

Nevertheless in anything approaching a well- 
balanced study of personality, it is necessary to 
consider all types, and the exceptional phenomenon 
of genius is one too rich in possibilities to be over- 
looked. We find that genius is a unique capacity 
for creative work in one or more fields of en- 
deavor. It is a gift to which has been applied some 
positive measure of training or preparation, even 
if it is — as it proved to be in many cases — self- 
applied. 

On the other hand, outside of the special realm 
in which the faculties excel, the genius is the same 
biological mechanism as the man in everyday life. 
The duality of his personality is even more marked 
than in the ordinary man. We are merely inter- 
ested in proving that, in common with those less 
gifted, he has a dual personality. In too many 
instances his peaks of achievement are matched 
by inordinate short-comings. But the law of com- 
pensation is universal, and its application is more 
readily observed in the exceptions than in the com- 
monplace. Where there are mountains, we must 
expect to find valleys. 

BIBLIOGKAPHY 

Royse, N. K., A Study of Genius, New York, 1891. 
Galton, Francis, Hereditary Genius. 
Hirsch, William, Genius and Degeneration, New York, 
1896. 



304 



THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



Schopenhauer, Arthur, The World as Will and Idea. 

Turck, Hermann, The Man of Genius, London, 1914. 

Nisbet, J. F., The Insanity of Genius, New York, 1912. 

Lombroso, Cesare, The Man of Genius, New York. 

Parish, Edmund, Hallucinations and Illusions, A Study 
of the Fallacies of Perception, New York, 1898. 

Schwarz, 0. L., General Types of Superior Men, Bos- 
ton, 1916. 



CHAPTEE XVI 
THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 

There are — put it conservatively — two men in every man 
of us. How many women in one woman is quite another 
question. But that side of himself which a man presents 
to the world and that aspect of his character which may 
be discovered by a scrutiny of his solitary acts, are usually 
two very different things. — Ben Ames Williams, Mich- 
ing Mallecho. 

Medical records afford a number of cases of in- 
dividuals who have suffered from complete dis- 
sociation of personality for varying periods of 
duration. These well known cases of dual and 
multiple personality do not interest us here 
primarily as pathological studies, into which cate- 
gory they fall, but rather as highly exaggerated 
expressions of symptoms that are common in 
everyday life. 

While the layman has long regarded cases of 
double and multiple personality as mysterious 
manifestations of the supernatural, and the older 
psychologists and scientists generally had con- 
sidered them exceptions to the natural law, it re- 
mained for a newer, dynamic psychology to prove 
that they are a universal phenomenon. The ab- 
normality is due not to the duality or multiplicity 

305 



306 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

of the personality, but to the lack of coordination 
among its component parts. In the words of Pro- 
fessor Boris Sidis: "Multiple consciousness is not 
the exception, but the law. For mind is synthesis 
of many systems, of many moments conscious- 
ness." 

All abnormalities, as a matter of fact, are " nor- 
mal" traits highly magnified. People who, for 
any one or more of many reasons, are unable to 
retain their decorum, or who lose voluntary con- 
trol over certain of their actions, exhibit peculiari- 
ties that before had been held in check. Their 
personality is contributing nothing new, but is 
bringing to the front material which before had 
been repressed out of consciousness or controlled 
in consciousness. 

Dual personality, as a pathological state, is the 
result of a dissociation or "split off" of greater 
or lesser severity, and as a consequence of which 
the whole organism is thrown into confusion and 
chaos. The Caveman, no longer submitting to 
even the pretense of intellectual control, breaks 
away from the rational moorings, and leads the 
primitive life he craves, until a reintegration of 
the psyche may be affected. 



Alternating Personalities 

The case of Miss Christine L. Beauchamp is 
one of several that are best known in the records 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 307 

of neuropathology. This person, whose identity 
has been veiled in the pseudonym here used, was 
brought to Dr. Morton Prince in the spring of 
1898. She was a young woman twenty-three years 
of age, a student in a New England College, and 
showed extreme " neurasthenic" symptoms, suf- 
fering from headaches, insomnia, bodily pains and 
chronic fatigue. These are very typical neurotic 
symptoms. 

Failing to give relief by the usual methods of 
treatment, Dr. Prince resorted to hypnotism, 
which seemed efficacious, and the young woman 
was apparently recovering. Then there suddenly 
developed, while she was in the hypnotic state, a 
second personality. 

The characteristics of the second personality, 
which called itself ' i Sally, ' ' were the very antithe- 
sis of the normal Miss Beauchamp. Sally was 
mischievous, gay, carefree, talkative, and denied 
identity with Miss Beauchamp, who was reserved 
and dignified. 

Some time later, Sally asserted herself while 
Miss Beauchamp was in the waking state, without 
the influence of hypnosis, and thereafter frequently 
reappeared, alternating with the original person- 
ality. Sally's coming was always a source of 
trouble and embarrassment to Miss Beauchamp, 
on whom she used to play tricks and inflict all 
sorts of annoyances. She wrote her shocking let- 
ters, and on one occasion mailed to her other self 
a box full of spiders and snakes. When Miss 



308 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Beauchamp received and opened this package she 
fainted from fright. 

Miss Beauchamp was devoutly religious, ret- 
icent, and most conventional. Sally was irre- 
ligious, disposed to flirt and fond of smoking 
cigarettes. Miss Beauchamp was nervous and 
tired easily. Sally was a bundle of energy, and 
among other distressing habits, she used to take 
long walks, and then permit Miss Beauchamp to 
regain consciousness, several miles from home, 
penniless and thoroughly fatigued. 

Sally was full of the joy of living, recognized 
no responsibilities, preferred menial tasks to ar- 
tistic or cultural pursuits ; while Miss Beauchamp 
was depressed in spirits, well educated, and an 
accomplished musician and linguist. At one time, 
when Miss Beauchamp, in the despair of thinking 
she was losing her mind, attempted to commit 
suicide by gas, Sally, rising in the emergency, 
turned off the gas. 

The case went from bad to worse, when sud- 
denly a new personality appeared. This last per- 
sonality remembered nothing that had occurred in 
Miss Beauchamp 's life since 1893, although she 
possessed a full knowledge of her experiences be- 
fore that time. The third personality, unlike 
Sally, was mentally developed, and, unlike Miss 
Beauchamp, was strong-willed, obstinate and 
sometimes deceitful. 

Upon investigation, Dr. Prince learned that in 
1893, Miss Beauchamp had suffered a severe 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF S09 

shock, and that her illness began at that time. He 
was then puzzled to know whether this new per- 
sonality was the actual Miss Beauchamp, and if 
the Miss Beauchamp he had known was not, like 
Sally, a secondary personality. 

Realizing that only one personality could re- 
main in control, Dr. Prince sought to bring the 
matter to a head. Bather by accident, he dis- 
covered that, under hypnotism, the primary per- 
sonality and the newest personality merged into 
one. This suggested to him the possibility of 
achieving his end by the fusion of the three per- 
sonalities into one well-rounded entity. • 

Again there was unexpected trouble, because, 
when released from the hypnotic state, the two 
personalities disintegrated, so that either the 
latest or the original personality assumed erratic 
control. Finally, after months' more treatment, 
and all of seven years from the time the case come 
under his observation, Dr. Prince found that he 
had to match wits with Sally, who had all along 
frustrated his plans by causing the disintegration, 
in order to prevent the probable termination of 
her existence. Armed with this knowledge, how- 
ever, Dr. Prince was at last able to bring about 
a permanent fusion of the personalities, as a re- 
sult of which Miss Beauchamp developed into a 
normal, healthy woman. 



310 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 



A Case of Complete Amnesia 

In the evening of April 15, 1897, the Eev. 
Thomas C. Hanna, while returning home in his 
carriage, alighted to adjust the harness and 
missed his step, falling headlong to the ground. 
His brother, after vainly trying to restore him to 
consciousness, removed him to the home of a 
friend and summoned medical aid. 

When, after several hours, he regained con- 
sciousness, he was found to have suffered a total 
amnesia — loss of memory. All the sensory ex- 
periences of his twenty-four years were wiped 
away and his mind was as blank as that of a 
new-born baby. 

He was a man of versatile capacities, and not 
only displayed intellectual ability, but had a me- 
chanical turn of mind as well. He was known for 
his strong will and excellent' self-control, and was 
more readily influenced by reason than by emo- 
tion. He was notably free from neurotic taint, 
and a number of his forebears were distinguished 
persons. 

While his memory was a perfect blank, his in- 
telligence had remained intact, as subsequent 
events proved. He was eager to learn, and re- 
membered readily the things that were told to 
him, although everything had to be explained in 
the most elementary way. Once he had grasped 
the meaning of a word, he made no errors in pro- 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 311 

nunciation, used the tenses correctly, and in form- 
ing sentences combined the words in their proper 
order. His greatest difficulty was in the acquisi- 
tion of the use of adjectives and abstract nouns. 

The world was a chaos of sensations. He had 
no conception of objects, space or time. Even the 
simplest mental processes which gauge distance, 
form, size and magnitude, were totally lacking in 
perception. He did not know how to control his 
voluntary muscles, and, having no idea of the pos- 
sibility of such control, he could not walk. 

Although, as it was afterwards learned, the sen- 
sation of hunger was present- in a great degree of 
intensity, he did not understand its meaning. 
When food was offered to him he did not compre- 
hend its purpose, and when it was placed within 
his mouth, he did not know how to masticate and 
swallow it. 

In the manner of an infant, he had to be taught 
the most primary acts of life, and he gradually 
learned to pronounce words by imitating definite 
articulate sounds and to grasp their meaning in 
association with certain objects. Characteristic 
of the early mental development of children, he 
used one word to indicate all objects having a 
point of common resemblance. The first word he 
learned was "apple," which meant to him food 
of all kinds. 

The distinction between his own movements and 
the movements of others was puzzling to him. 
From involuntary, chance movements of his arms 



312 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

and legs, lie learned the possibility of controlling 
his limbs. 

This most extraordinary case was treated by 
Dr. Boris Sidis and Dr. S. P. Goodhart. Their 
great problem was not only to impart to him the 
common knowledge of a normal adult, but, if pos- 
sible, to bring back the "lost" personality, of 
which the new personality had no knowledge what- 
ever, and to synthesize them. 

He was taken to the home of Dr. Goodhart in 
New York City, so as to have the most careful 
and constant attention. Seven weeks after the 
accident, about three o'clock in the morning, the 
original personality awoke and the Eev. Hanna 
found himself in these strange surroundings. He 
demanded explanations from his brother, who 
shared the room with him. All memory of his 
experiences intervening between seven o'clock in 
the evening of April 15 and the early morning of 
June 8, had vanished, and he insisted it was even- 
ing — the time of day when he lost consciousness. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon of June 9, 
he fell asleep and when he awoke, his second per- 
sonality held the field of consciousness, retaining 
all that he had been taught, but remembering 
nothing of the primary self. 

With his growing knowledge, he soon gained an 
intelligent insight into his condition, but there 
were continual changes of personality, one alter- 
nating with the other. As in other cases of a 
similar nature, the ideals and tastes of one per- 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 313 

sonality were quite the opposite of the other. The 
Rev. Hanna was a rather austere, strait-laced 
clergyman, while the secondary character enjoyed 
burlesque shows, risque jokes and drank beer with 
evident relish. 

Finally, he seemed to be seized with an intense 
inner conflict, as if the two personalities were 
struggling for supremacy. He appeared helpless 
to choose between them because they were both 
of the same nature, and at the same time too dis- 
similar to be fused. 

"The struggle," he told his physicians, "was 
not so much to choose one as to forget the other. 
I was trying to find out which I might more easily 
forget. It seemed impossible to forget one; both 
tried to persist in consciousness. It seemed as if 
each memory was stronger than my will, and still 
I had to determine which I had to drive away. 
Just before lunch yesterday, I chose the secondary 
life ; it was strong and fresh, and was able to per- 
sist. At that time the question arose whether I 
could not possibly take both. I decided to accept 
both lives as mine, a condition that could not be 
worse than the uncertainty I was in. I then felt 
that the oft-repeated struggle would ruin my 
mind. ... 7 am sure both are mine. They are 
separate and I cannot fit the two well together. 
Secondary and primary states have breaks and 
intervals in them, as though there were periods 
of sleep. The secondary state is stronger and 
brighter, but not more stable." 



314 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

Gradually, with increasing insight, a sens^ of 
order was established in Hanna's mind, and 
the two erstwhile discordant personalities were 
brought into harmony. A compromise was ef- 
fected between the over-sublimated, over-worked, 
over-repressed clergyman and the primitive, un- 
adapted, uncivilized Caveman who for several 
months struggled to prevail. 



Boy and Girl Alternating Personalities 

Until she was eighteen years of age, Alma Z 
had been in good health and was considered in 
every respect a normal girl. Then, as an alleged 
result of "overwork at school," she underwent a 
remarkable change. Up to that time she had been 
an educated, thoughtful, dignified, feminine type. 
With the change, she was transformed into a care- 
free, happy-go-lucky person, child-like in her atti- 
tude toward responsibilities, ungrammatical in 
speech, and with a limited vocabulary in keeping 
with her mental regression. Moreover, in con- 
trast to the ill-health of the subject, the new per- 
sonality was free from pains and aches, had a 
good appetite, and comparatively a good deal of 
strength. 

The second personality knew the primary one 
and she called the former "Twoey" and desig- 
nated the other as "No. 1." At first Twoey, who 
seemed to have the power of going and coming at 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 315 

will, would remain "out" for a few hours at a 
time, but later she prolonged her stay for several 
days. Then the original personality would re- 
turn, with all the intelligence, patience and 
womanly qualities, so typical of Alma, but also 
with the weakness and suffering which character- 
ized her illness. No 1 became acquainted with 
Twoey through descriptions given by those who 
associated with her. 

According to Dr. Osgood Mason, who observed 
this case for ten years, there were some striking 
differences between it and the two cases we have 
just reviewed and others that come in the same 
general category. There was absent the friction 
between the personalities that is usually character- 
istic of these phenomena. 

While No. 1 and No. 2 appeared to be in every 
respect separate and distinct personalities, there 
was a sense of continuity in the mental stream, as 
each took up the duties of life where the other had 
left off. 

Furthermore, the two personalities showed their 
harmony of spirit by becoming fast friends. No. 
1 became attached to Twoey because of the care 
and consideration she showed toward her, and for 
her good nature and wit, which was a source of 
amusement. 

Twoey, on the other hand, respected No. 1 for 
her superior knowledge, her patience in bearing 
the burdens of her ailment, and for her commend- 
able qualities generally. It was in recognition of 



316 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

these virtues that she took the place of No. 1 with 
pleasure to give her rest. 

It is interesting to note that as Alma Z im- 
proved in health and strength, Twoey appeared 
less frequently, and her visits corresponded with 
conditions of fatigue, or nervousness and mental 
excitement. 

In the course of time, Alma married and proved 
herself a good wife and an efficient housekeeper. 
The situation took a new turn, however, as Twoey 
reappeared one night, but only to announce that 
she was to vanish and that she would be succeeded 
by another personality, "The Boy." The new- 
comer attended to all the duties which devolved 
upon Alma, but was firm in declaring her male 
character. 

Alma, the student, was familiar with Latin, 
philosophy and mathematics, and had committed 
to memory numerous poems by Browning, Tenny- 
son, Scott and others. The Boy, on the contrary, 
was absolutely illiterate, although "he" displayed 
an intelligent interest in current affairs, and was 
particularly fond of musical and theatrical enter- 
tainments. 

At a concert in the Metropolitan Opera House 
one evening, The Boy suddenly disappeared and 
Alma took "his" place for a short time. But she 
soon closed her eyes, and in the gradual transition 
assumed the more masculine countenance which 
characterized the personality of The Boy. 

The same inner harmony prevailed with the ad- 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 317 

dition of this new personality. The Boy knew 
Twoey and No. 1, and was fond of them both. 
Like Twoey, he expressed the utmost solicitude 
for Alma, and was anxious that she should recover 
her health and not need him any more. 

A Secondary Personality That Fled 

Ansel Bourne, of Greene, Rhode Island, had in 
early life learned the carpenter trade. As a result 
of a sudden temporary loss of sight and hearing, 
in his thirtieth year, he had become converted 
from atheism to Christianity, and afterwards 
lived the life of an itinerant preacher. He had 
been subject to headaches and temporary fits of 
depression in spirits during the greater part of 
his life, and also had a few fits of unconsciousness 
lasting half an hour or less. 

On January 17, 1887, Mr. Bourne, then sixty- 
one years of age, went to Providence and drew 
$551 from a bank. He paid some bills and entered 
a Pawtucket horse-car, with the intention of visit- 
ing his sister, and this was the last incident he 
remembered until his amnesia terminated several 
weeks later. 

As he did not return home, his disappearance 
was noted in the papers and foul play was sus- 
pected. The police, who tried to trace him, sought 
his whereabouts in vain. 

On the morning of March 14, however, at Nor- 
ristown, Pennsylvania, a man who had made him- 



318 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

self known as A. J. Brown, and had rented a small 
shop six weeks previously, woke up in a fright, 
and demanded where he was and how he came 
there. He said his name was Ansel Bourne, and 
that he knew nothing of Norristown, or of shop- 
keeping, and that the last thing he remembered — 
it seemed only yesterday — was drawing money 
from the bank in Providence and boarding a street 
car. The people of the house thought him insane, 
as did, at first Dr. Louis H. Read, who was called 
in to attend him. 

However, upon telegraphing to Providence, con- 
firmatory messages were received and shortly his 
nephew, a Mr. Andrew Harris, came, settled his 
affairs and took him home. Bourne was very 
weak, having lost apparently twenty pounds dur- 
ing his eight weeks' experience, and had such a 
horror of the idea of the candy store that he 
refused to enter it again. 

It seems that about a fortnight after the dis- 
appearance of Mr. Bourne, this stranger arrived 
in Norristown, rented the store and stocked it with 
confectionery, fruit, stationery and notions. He 
carried on a small trade, and conducted himself 
in a very orderly, methodical manner. 

Later, he was treated by Professor William 
James, who hypnotized the aged preacher and 
elicited from him a fairly connected account of 
his activities during the eight weeks of his disap- 
pearance. These details he was utterly unable to 
recall outside of the hypnotic state. 



[THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 319 

In the hypnosis, he said his name was Albert 
John Brown, that on January 17, 1887, he went 
from Providence to Pawtucket, in a horse-car, 
thence by train to Boston, and from there to New 
York, arriving at 9 p.m. and registering at the 
Grand Union Hotel, as A. J. Brown. He left on 
the following day and went to Newark, N. J., 
thence to Philadelphia, where he arrived in the 
evening and stayed for three or four days in a 
hotel near the depot. He thought of taking a store 
in a small town, and after looking around at sev- 
eral places, among them Germantown, he chose 
Norristown, about twenty miles from Philadel- 
phia, where he started a little business of five-cent 
goods, confectionery, stationery, etc. 

He stated that he was born in Newton, New 
Hampshire, July 8, 1826 (he was born in New 
York City, July 8, 1826), had passed through a 
great deal of trouble, losses of friends and prop- 
erty; loss of his wife was one trouble — she died 
in 1881 ; three children living, but everything was 
confused prior to his finding himself in the horse- 
car on the way to Pawtucket. He wanted to get 
away somewhere — he didn't know where — and 
have rest. He had six or seven hundred dollars 
with him when he went into the store. He lived 
very closely, boarded by himself, and did his own 
cooking. He went to church, and also to one 
prayer-meeting. At one of these meetings, he 
spoke about a boy who had kneeled down and 
prayed in the midst of the passengers on a steam- 



320 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

boat from Albany to New York (an incident of 
which he was well aware in the Ansel Bourne per- 
sonality). 

The completeness of the dissociation in the 
hypnotic trance is evident when the subject said 
he had heard of Ansel Bourne, but " didn't know 
that he had ever met the man. ' 9 When confronted 
with Mrs. Bourne, he said that he had "never seen 
the woman before." 

In the secondary personality, induced by the 
hypnosis, he looked old, and his voice was low and 
weak. Altogether, he was a rather shrunken, de- 
jected replica of Bourne. He complained of feel- 
ing "all hedged in" and that he "can't get out 
at either end." 

A reintegration of Mr. Bourne's personality 
was never effected. Professor James summarized 
the case in this sentence. "Mr. Bourne's skull 
covers two distinct personalities." Two inde- 
pendent systems were formed within the mind of 
the patient. One belonged to his waking and one 
to his subconscious life. WThen one was removed, 
the other emerged. 

Unlike the Eev. Hanna, for instance, he had a 
neuropathic family history, and he personally had 
a psychopathic and neuropathic disposition. His 
maternal grandfather seemed to have suffered 
from senile dementia. The early psychopathic at- 
tacks and melancholia of the patient have been 
noted. 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 321 



A Case of Quintuple Personality 

The case of Doris Fischer, 1 reported by Dr. 
Walter Franklin Prince, is one of the most com- 
plex in the literature of this subject. It involves 
five distinct personalities. Doris was born of 
German parents in 1889. Her mother's family 
was of healthy stock, while her father 's evidenced 
some strong neurotic traits. Her parents were 
well educated, but the father, on account of exces- 
sive alcoholic indulgence, was reduced in time 
from a responsible position to that of a common 
laborer, so that the family lived in poverty. 

The mental dissociations of Doris were caused 
by three successive shocks, incurred respectively 
at the ages of three, seventeen and eighteen. The 
first shock is described as psycho-physical, the 
second psychical, and the third physical. 

The father, a violent, sadistic type, caused the 
first shock when, in a fit of temper, he threw the 
little girl to the floor. Two secondary personali- 
ties resulted from this shock, "Sleeping Mar- 
garet" and "Margaret." The latter had no ac- 
cess to the mind of the former, and did not know 
that she existed. 

Sleeping Margaret claimed that she spoke only 
when Margaret was asleep, and that she was use- 

1 ' ' The Doris Case of Quintuple Personality, ' ' by Walter Frank- 
lin Prince. The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1916. Kichard 
G. Badger, Boston, Pub. 



322 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

ful warding off dangers mainly by influencing 
Margaret, and also at times causing "Real Doris" 
to hear or see that which she otherwise would not 
have perceived. 

The subsequent history to the seventeenth year 
is gleaned from three sources, i.e., the memories 
of Real Doris, Margaret and Sleeping Margaret. 

In her triple life from the age of three, one 
curious feature was that the primary personality 
was never the one to sleep at night. The moment 
she had reached the head of the stairs leading to 
her room, Margaret would come and continue, ex- 
cept for brief sleeping intervals, until she had 
reached the bottom of the stairs in the morning. 

Margaret would do the school exercises for her 
until the studies became so far advanced that she 
was no longer capable, would write notes to Real 
Doris, play and "imagine," often for hours. In 
the morning, Real Doris would discover evidences 
of pretended banquets and other play. The 
primary personality was in control the greater 
part of the daytime, but there were frequent 
transitions, during which Margaret would play her 
characteristic pranks and make audacious re- 
marks. In school, Margaret would come and per- 
petrate some antic or singular speech, and then 
go, leaving Real Doris to wonder at the laughter 
of the pupils and to bear the brunt of the teacher 's 
reproof. 

The fourth personality, "Sick Doris," as she 
became to be known, made her appearance with 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 323 

the death of Mrs. Fischer. Sick Doris, like the 
secondary personality of the Hanna case, was 
characterized by the absence of knowledge-con- 
tent. Her intellect, however, was good and she 
readily learned. Another personality, Margaret, 
was her principal teacher. 

Margaret taught her, speaking subliminally by 
the lips, and subliminally using the hands, alter- 
nating with Sick Doris. She pointed at objects 
and gave their names, and Sick Doris would then 
point and repeat the names. She performed acts 
and Sick Doris obediently copied them. 

When she was eighteen years old, she fell heav- 
ily upon the back of her head. The new psy- 
chical entity which then appeared was designated 
as " Sleeping Real Doris," whose identity was 
strengthened by another fall some months later. 
The ambiguity of the names must not lead to con- 
fusion. Sleeping Real Doris was far from being 
Real Doris 'asleep ; Sleeping Margaret had abso- 
lutely nothing in common with Margaret, asleep 
or awake. And Sick Doris was not Doris in a 
sick condition, but an entirely distinct personality. 

When Dr. Walter F. Prince took the case under 
his care in January, 1911, the primary personality 
had not had a total of three days of continuous 
existence in five years. For the first three and 
a half years of that period, Real Doris had not 
talked with a human being a dozen times, and only 
three or four times during the remainder of the 



324 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

period, as she nearly always "came out" in her 
room, which had no view of the street. 

In describing the change of personality from 
Sick Doris to Margaret, Dr. Prince states : "When 
the secret became known, and she was free to act 
out her true character (since the rule is that a 
secondary personality, in spite of its 'breaks,' en- 
deavors to conceal itself from strangers), it was 
startling to see the stolid, mature face of S. D. 
dissolve into the laughing, mischievous coun- 
tenance of a young tomboy. The very shape of 
the face altered, and her voice was strikingly dif- 
ferent, strident at times, at others almost infan- 
tile, full of inflections and vocal coloring. . . . 
Alone of the group she was slangy, and she mis- 
spelled and mispronounced many a word of which 
the others were mistresses. She could not under- 
stand why R. D. and S. D. wanted to go to church 
— it was all ' dumm stuff' to her." 

As in all cases of alternating consciousness, it 
would be when the primary personality became 
weary that she "lost control of her synthesis" and 
a secondary personality took her place. The whole 
process seems to be regulated by the consumption 
of energy and consequent exhaustion. 

Dr. Prince described in much detail how, under 
the continuous care of Mrs. Prince and himself (in 
whose home the patient lived for several years), 
the various secondary personalities of Doris 
gradually grew less pronounced — while the pri- 
mary personality grew stronger. From a bewil- 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 325 

dering bundle of disintegrations, the personality 
of Doris Fischer was finally synthesized into a 
single entity, evidencing a high degree of nervous 
and mental health. 

The striking feature of all these cases is the 
neurotic characteristic, highly magnified in these 
instances, of fleeing from a psychically intolerable 
reality. In all except the Doris case, the subjects 
were persons who had, through over-repression 
of the natural instincts on the one hand, and at- 
tempting the over-development of the cultural na- 
ture on the other, inflicted a psychic trauma or 
wound, the results of which we have reviewed. 

It is significant that the two male cases, the best 
known in this field of study, were both ministers, 
and New Englanders, who have been most influ- 
enced by puritanical notions. Swisher, who writes 
sympathetically towards religion and the new 
psychology observes that clergymen are particu- 
larly liable to "breakdowns" on account of the 
severe repression which is a part of their educa- 
tion. "In fact," he states, "such repressions 
have often driven men into the ministry. Detrac- 
tors have called the clergy the 'third sex,' imply- 
ing a sexlessness among them." 

Miss Beauchamp and Alma Z were young 
women who had attempted the ascent of cultural 
heights which grew intolerable to the primitive 
side of their nature — and the Cave-creature re- 
belled in a most dramatic way. The character- 
istics of all the secondary personalities were 



326 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

distaste for study or mental effort, disregard for 
conventional ideas and responsibility, and a child- 
ish, carefree attitude toward life in general. The 
fundamental requirements of nature, to a large 
extent denied by the mode of life of the subjects, 
were therefore obtained in a most abnormal way. 

Doris Fischer, of a sensitive, impressionable 
disposition, received a shock at the early age of 
three years, which caused her to flee from the 
reality of her brutal father. She took refuge in 
inferior, much less sensitive personalities, which 
were not so susceptible to the harshness of her 
environment. 

The primitive nature of every human being has 
its irreducible minimum, beyond which it will not 
and cannot be repressed or coerced. It must ex- 
press itself, either in comparatively harmless and 
socially acceptable ways (which have been out- 
lined in previous chapters), or, if denied these 
outlets, it will burst forth in individually destruc- 
tive and socially objectionable manifestations. 
Nothing illustrates better the effects of over-re- 
pression and a one-sided expression of the ener- 
getic constitution, than these pathological studies 
in dual and multiple personality. They serve as a 
magnifying glass which enables us to see and 
understand many peculiarities, eccentricities and 
personal idiosyncrasies in everyday life. 



THE CAVEMAN SPLIT OFF 327 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sidis, Boris and S. P. Goodhard, Multiple Personality, 
New York, 1905. 

Prince, Morton, Dissociations of a Personality, New- 
York, 1906. 

Prince, Walter Franklin, "The Doris Case of Quin- 
tuple Personality," The Journal of Abnormal 
Psychology, Boston, 1916-1917. 

Bruce, H. Addington, The Riddle of Personality, New 
York, 1908. 

Tridon, Andre, Psychoanalysis and Behavior, Chapter 
III, New York, 1920. 

Stevenson, R. L., Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Probably 
the most famous dual personality in fiction. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 

Doct: You see, her eyes are open. 
Gent: Aye, but their sense is shut. 

— Shakespeare, Macbeth (V. 1.) 

The cases of dual and multiple personality 
briefly sketched in the preceding chapter — which 
involve complete dissociation of consciousness — 
are valuable chiefly as highly magnified examples 
of commonplace manifestations. It is only with 
this thought in mind that abstracts of them have 
been included in this volume. 

There is a direct relation between these uncom- 
mon expressions of the Caveman and the every- 
day variety. The difference between them is one 
of degree, and not of kind. 

There are, however, intermediate cases, belong- 
ing neither in the extreme category of complete 
dissociation of consciousness for more or less ex- 
tended periods, nor in the classification of 
"normal" attributes, such as dreaming, phan- 
tasying, etc. Nevertheless, in one form or an- 
other, they are common enough, and in the 
aggregate they loom large in the minor pathology 
of the day. Chief among these phenomena are 
stammering, somnambulism and epilepsy. 

328 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 329 



Stammering 

According to the findings of analytic psy- 
chology, stammering, in many cases, is due to a 
dissociation or split in the psychic stream. Like 
the forgetting of facts, well known to a person, 
it signifies a mental conflict. The conscious mind 
is desirous of giving utterance to something, but 
the unconscious mind, presumably because the 
words have an unpleasant connotation, attempts 
to withhold them. The result in one instance is 
"forgetting" what we had in mind to say; and in 
the other, the articulation is interrupted. There 
are, of course, some cases of stammering due to a 
defect in the vocal mechanism or the motor cen- 
ters of articulation. 

It has been observed that persons who stammer 
or suffer from an impediment of speech in con- 
versation are often able to sing well, and some- 
times even to deliver a lecture without stammer- 
ing or any hesitancy in the use of words. This 
indicates that the trouble is psychic. 

Nor is hesitancy of speech confined to stam- 
merers alone. Every one, when a personal com- 
plex is touched, hesitates for a moment, until a 
compromise is reached with the rebellious factor 
in the Unconscious. 

It is interesting to note, especially in recalling 
a foregoing chapter, The Caveman and the 
Genius, that stammering has frequently been 



330 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

observed in men of genius. Among them may- 
be mentioned Aristotle, iEsop, Demosthenes, 
Alcibiades, Cato of Utica, Virgil, Manzoni, 
Desiderius, Erasmus, Malherbe, Charles Lamb, 
Turenne, Charles Darwin, also his grandfather, 
Erasmus, Moses Mendelssohn, Charles V, Eomiti, 
Cardan, Tartaglia. 

The story of Demosthenes' struggle, which re- 
sulted not only in his cure, but in his becoming 
the greatest orator of his time, is well known. 
His persistent efforts may have involved some 
factor conducive to self-analysis, however un- 
aware he was of the process that actually aided 
him. It sometimes happens that a person, either 
by chance or diligent effort, gains an insight into 
the psychic operations, and thereby experiences 
a revolutionary change in adaptability, without 
really appreciating the nature and extent of the 
discovery. 



Somnambulism 

Sleep-walking, or somnambulism, is very dis- 
tinctly an example of split-personality. In a way 
it is quite analogous to the amnesia cases of the 
Ansel Bourne type. There are, of course, differ- 
ences, mainly the comparatively short duration 
of the attack, and the fact that the somnambulist 
is actually in a dream state, even though he walks, 
while the secondary personality in amnesia may 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 331 

lead a life that is practically as complete as the 
primary personality. 

Somnambulism is a dream enacted, as well as 
visualized. The normal function of the dreamer 
is that of a spectator watching the drama as it 
transpires. Always, of course, he is the object 
of central interest. The dreamer watches him- 
self enact, either in a symbolized or an undis- 
guised manner, roles of life that appeal to his 
primitive self — his ego. In somnambulism, the 
process is carried a step further by adding 
mobility to the visualization. The drama may 
then become a comedy — or a tragedy. 

In sleep-walking the dreamer's eyes may be 
either closed or open. If open, he does not "see" 
in the ordinary sense of the word, although im- 
pressions may be made on the retina which will 
influence his course. The characteristic precision 
of the somnambulist, which has led to the belief 
that sight is employed, is due to the fact that the 
dreamer sees very clearly the material of his 
dream and he acts from the visualization. Acci- 
dents, therefore, are very liable to happen to the 
sleep-walker. When he talks he converses with 
the characters in the dream. If one speaks to 
him, he will ignore the remark, unless it is asso- 
ciated with the utterance of a dream character. 
If this is the case, a conversation may be carried 
on between the dreamer and an observer. 

Partial somnambulism is more common. This 
condition is present when the dreamer performs 



332 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

certain motions without leaving his bed, In a 
dream of ascending a hill, he may, for instance, 
work his legs as in the act of climbing. Move- 
ments of the arms, in emphasizing situations in 
dreams also are very common. 

There is a most dramatic case of somnambulism 
cited which happened in a monastery. Late one 
night as the prior sat at his table writing, one of 
the monks entered the room. He paid no atten- 
tion to his superior, but walked directly over to 
the prior's cot and plunged a knife into the bed- 
ding. Without a word, or any sign of recognition 
of the astounded prior, the monk calmly walked 
out of the room. The next morning, the monk 
told his superior that he had had a terrible night- 
mare. He dreamt that the prior had done him 
some grievous injury, and in retaliation he had 
gone to his room and stabbed him to death in 
bed. He said he experienced a sense of profound 
relief when he woke up and found that it was 
only a dream. 

Sometimes incidents happen which are wrongly 
attributed to somnambulism. A person may 
awaken from sleep, arise and perform some task, 
in which he is deeply interested, and then return 
to sleep. Having forgotten all about the matter 
by morning, the individual believes he must have 
acted in his sleep. 

Pierre Janet has set forth a number of interest- 
ing somnambulistic cases, among them being that 
of "Irene," aged twenty, who had for sixty nights 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 333 

watched by her mother who was dying of tuber- 
culosis. The facts may be stated briefly as 
follows : 

Irene had nursed her mother through a long 
illness which culminated in death. The circum- 
stances connected with the death were particu- 
larly painful, and as a result the daughter suf- 
fered an intense shock. An abnormal mental 
condition developed, which expressed itself in 
symptoms similar to those of the ordinary som- 
nambulist. Whenever an attack occurred, Irene, 
regardless of what she was doing, housework or 
what not, would suddenly cease her occupation, 
and proceed to live over again the pathetic scene 
at her mother's deathbed with all the realism of 
an accomplished actress. While thus engaged, 
Irene was absolutely unconscious of anything that 
transpired in her environment. She heard noth- 
ing that was said to her, and saw nothing but the 
phantom scene in which she was living at the 
moment. 

The drama would end as abruptly as it had 
begun, and Irene would then return to her occupa- 
tion where she had left off, without being aware 
of the fact that it had been interrupted. After 
the lapse of several days, she would experience 
another somnambulism like the first in every de- 
tail, starting and ending in the same sudden man- 
ner. When interrogated during the apparently 
normal intervals, it would be found that no rec- 
ollection of the somnambulistic experience 



334 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

remained. Further, she had lost all memory of 
her mother 's illness and death. She talked about 
her mother in the most matter of fact way, and 
was rebuked by her family for her cold indiffer- 
ence to the subject. 

The relation between the complex and the 
pathological symptoms is very clear in this case. 
The memory of the mother's illness and death 
was extremely painful and distressing to Irene. 
As a result, there arose a conflict in her mind be- 
tween the system of ideas connected with the mis- 
fortune and her personality as a whole. In 
struggling to overcome this conflict, the mechan- 
ism of repression was resorted to, and the pain- 
ful complex became detached from the remainder 
of the mind. Thus were banished from conscious- 
ness all memories of the tragic event. But, 
while beyond the realm of consciousness, the 
memories were not destroyed, consequently they 
returned with all their old emotional stress and 
tension, in a somnambulism. 

Partial Amnesia 

The phenomenon of partial amnesia is as inter- 
esting to observe as complete loss of memory. 
The Irene case represents partial amnesia (having 
forgotten the fact of her mother's sickness and 
death), combined with the somnambulistic fea- 
ture. 

Bousneld relates the ease of a patient who had 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 335 

completely forgotten how his two intimate friends 
had come to their death, although he was stand- 
ing near them at the time and saw the shell ex- 
plode which killed them both. One of his friends 
had the whole back of his head blown away, and 
the other his abdomen ripped open. The horrible 
event was completely repressed from conscious 
memory, as well as associations connected with the 
event which might have led to its remembrance. A 
complete small section of his life was " split off 
from consciousness " and forgotten. A cure was 
affected as the memories were gradually revived 
by the method of free association practised in 
psychoanalysis. 

Shell shock, in fact, is a form of psycho- 
neurosis, which appears to be a compensation for 
the repressed self-protection urge. Hysterical 
blindness or deafness is a means of protection 
from terrifying sights and sounds; aphasias and 
abnormal gait necessitate the man's removal from 
the field of danger; and regression to infantile 
levels relieves him of the responsibilities of adult- 
hood and assures him safety as a non-combatant. 

Bram considers the term shell shock a mis- 
nomer and a term misleading in its implications. 
He emphasizes the similarity between the symp- 
toms of shell shock and exophthalmic goitre, and 
believes that the great majority of shell shock 
patients are subjects of either an aberrant or a 
true form of Graves' disease. 

We are told that goitre, associated with cardiac 



336 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

and nervous manifestations, has been a problem 
in armies of the past. " Graves' disease is a 
chronic condition of 'fright, fight and flight,' as 
evidenced by the typical picture of perpetual 
terror in the well-developed case (bulging eyes, 
anxious expression, and trembling of the body)." 
These are definite symptoms of endocrine dis- 
turbances, particularly of the adrenals and 
thyroid glands. 

There are some amnesia cases well known in 
the history of medicine, on which analytic psy- 
chology throws a new and significant light. Aber- 
cromby relates that a surgeon, whose head was 
injured by a fall from his horse, could give in- 
structions for treating his wound, but completely 
forgot the existence of his wife and family for 
three days. 

Forbes Winslow tells of a young married 
woman who, after a period of debility, lost all 
sense of the time that had elapsed since the day 
of her marriage. She remembered with remark- 
able vividness every previous event of her life; 
but when her husband approached her she 
repudiated all knowledge of or relation to him. 
She acted in the same way with regard to her 
child. Her parents and friends by their influence 
succeeded in persuading her that she was in 
reality married and had given birth to a son, but 
she beheld her child without being able to imagine 
how she had come by him. 

After an attack of apoplexy a patient of Brown- 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED' 337 

Sequard's lost all memory of events that had 
occurred during a period of five years. This 
period, which comprised his marriage, finished 
about six months before the attack. As a result 
of a blow on the head a man is said to have for- 
gotten his Greek, but nothing else. 

The difficulty that students have in wrestling 
with Greek is proverbial. What is more probable 
than that the man last mentioned had, in the 
drudgery of his early study of Greek, formed a 
positive antipathy toward the subject. Never- 
theless, by force of will he had overcome this 
intellectual revulsion; but when his will power 
had become somewhat impaired from the blow 
on the head, he took the line of least resistance 
and "forgot" those memories which were dis- 
tasteful to him. 

All the other cases are concerned with domestic 
relations. And it is significant that in each in- 
stance the patient had lost all "memory" either 
of the existence of the conjugal partner and the 
family, or of everything happening during the 
period of married life. As marriage always rep- 
resents a profound change in one's life, and in- 
volves added responsibilities and cares which are 
not attractive to the purely egotistical side of 
human nature, what is more natural than that in 
a crisis, when rational judgment is vitiated, the 
personality should symbolically revert to the 
more care-free life of the unmarried state. That 
there is no consciousness of this motive means 



338 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

nothing, as we know from the several cases which 
have been reviewed in some detail. With a rever- 
sion to a childhood mental level, due to an accident 
or other misfortune, there is the unconscious de- 
sire to enjoy the child's freedom from adult 
responsibilities. 

Epilepsy 

The completeness of psychic dissociation in 
epilepsy, of course, depends upon the severity of 
the fit. The nature of the attacks varies from 
hysteria-like symptoms to manifestations re- 
sembling certain psychoses. It has been observed 
that epileptics are unusually sensitive beings, 
whose submissiveness readily gives way to the 
most extreme exhibitions of rage, culminating in 
a paroxysm. The frequency of epilepsy in men 
of genius, which has been noted, indicates the 
affinity of this affliction to sensitive, high-strung 
natures. 

At the age of seventeen, Dostoevsky wrote to 
his brother Michael, ' ' There is no way out of my 
difficulties. I have a plan. I am going to become 
insane.' ' He did, indeed, become an epileptic. 
It is probable that the ecstatic experiences in his 
fits were a redeeming psychological compensation 
for the misery he endured in his "normal" state. 

"I always awaited with impatience," said a 
patient of Francis Willis (A Treatise on Mental 
Derangement), "the accession of the paroxysms 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 339 

of insanity, since I enjoyed during their presence 
a high degree of pleasure. . . . Everything 
appeared easy to me. No obstacles presented 
themselves in theory or in practice." 

Among negative, inferior types, epileptic 
seizures seem to present themselves when the in- 
dividual is unable to meet a certain situation, 
which a stronger character would strive to 
master. Submitting to the attack is a means of 
retreating from the harsh demands of reality, and 
at the same time it gives the victim an apparent 
advantage. It satisfies the unconscious ego-crav- 
ing in this respect: Feeling keenly his lack of 
effectiveness in his environment, and galled by 
the resultant neglect, his primitive nature invites 
a paroxysm, which gains for him attentions, 
sympathy and other coveted advantages. 

Inferior epileptics, in fact, usually have their 
attacks when subjected to some humiliating ex- 
perience or neglect. It may be a fancied griev- 
ance, but to their hypersensitiveness, it is very 
real. The reality becomes unbearable, so they 
take refuge in an abnormal state which permits 
the freest expression to the untamed Caveman. 

The physiological concomitance of many epi- 
leptic fits reflects an utterly primitive psycho- 
logical state. The movements of the fingers, 
hands and arms may indicate a clawing, scratch- 
ing design, or there may be recourse to savage 
thrusts, as of stabbing, or of a desperate stran- 
gling grapple with an imaginary foe. 



340 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

That there has been an intuitive recognition of 
a dual personality in these cases, is evident from 
the fact that a person who raves or has a fit is 
said to be "beside himself." This descriptive 
term, like many other colloquialisms and slang 
words and phrases, displays significant accuracy 
and unconscious insight into a complex psycho- 
logical situation. 

Hypnosis 

Suggested sleep, or hypnosis, like the various 
pathological conditions described, is decidedly a 
split-off in the psychic stream. A study of this 
subject enables us to perceive the duality of the 
mind as by no other means. And it is particularly 
valuable in proving that the most casual experi- 
ences make a permanent photographic imprint on 
the unconscious mind even though this material 
is rarely available for conscious use. 

Furthermore, in hypnotic states, we observe 
mental activities that are identical with some 
manifestations of insanity and with the more 
severe neuroses. Conscious reasoning ceases, but 
the unconscious mental processes are remarkably 
active. There is invariably a regression to an 
earlier age level, and unless the subject's talk 
is suggested by the hypnotist, it tends to revert 
to childhood memories. All idea of time dis- 
appears and the freedom from consciousness of 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 341 

time contributes much to the pleasure of the sub- 
ject. 

Every neurosis is essentially a form of uncon- 
scious auto-suggestion. The obsessive ideas of 
the neurotic are buttressed by what he holds to 
be very weighty evidence in the form of aggravat- 
ing symptoms. And he develops an elaborate 
system of rationalization around them. The 
counterfeit nature of these symptoms, and their 
disappearance under the searchlight cf under- 
standing, have been noted. 

The hypnotized subject who has performed 
some act or deed by direction of the hypnotist, 
will, if questioned, give very plausible reasons 
for so doing. Under the influence of the hypnosis, 
he cannot help doing it. He does it unconsciously, 
mechanically, and with unqualified certainty. But 
when the matter is brought into consciousness by 
questioning him, he rationalizes about it without 
knowing in the least why he does so. 

An hypnotized subject may be told that at a 
certain time the next day he will call at a given 
address. Nothing further will be said about it. 
Upon coming out of the trance he will have for- 
gotten all that transpired, but at the suggested 
time the following day he will call at the address 
specified. Having no real business there, he will 
unconsciously fabricate some "reason" for call- 
ing. He may say that he stopped to ask if the 
premises are for rent, or to inquire if a Mr. 



342 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

So-and-so lives in the neighborhood, or anything 
else that seems plausible. 

Luys mentions that he once heard a young 
married lady who had listened to one of his lec- 
tures, repeat the lecture several months after- 
wards in a hypnotic state, with the utmost 
accuracy, reproducing like a phonograph the very 
tone of his voice, using every gesture that he 
used, and adapting, too, in a remarkable way, her 
words to the subject. A year afterwards the lady 
had still the same capacity, and displayed it every 
time she was put into a trance. When awakened, 
however, she was utterly unable to repeat to him 
a single word of the lecture. She said she did not 
listen to it, that she did not understand a word of 
it, and could not say a single line. 

This gives us an idea of the uncanny power of 
retentiveness of the unconscious mind, which the 
conscious mind is wholly unaware of, and is 
normally incapable of utilizing. It also illustrates 
what a marvellous factor suggestion is when it is 
applied so as to produce a psychic dissociation. 
When suggestion from another person will pro- 
duce these amazing results, we are forced to real- 
ize that auto-suggestion, which is operative in 
every individual's life, must also have a power- 
ful determining influence on our conduct. The 
great prevalence of neurotic subjects, with their 
endless array of counterfeited symptoms and ail- 
ments, is the commonplace expression of this 
phenomenon. 



THE CAVEMAN PARTLY DISSOCIATED 343 

The positive influence of auto-suggestion in 
creative work must likewise be very great. The 
sensitiveness of persons of genius has been noted. 
The hallucinations some of them experienced 
were powerful auto-suggestions recorded on a 
hyper-sensitive imagination. 

How many geniuses in perfecting their master- 
pieces could have been like Flaubert, who said 
that his characters seized upon him, and pursued 
him, or that, more correctly speaking, he lived 
through them? When he described the poisoning 
of Madame Bovary, he felt the taste of arsenic 
on his tongue, and showed symptoms of actual 
poisoning so far as to vomit. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Janet, Pierre, Major Symptoms of Hysteria, New York, 
1907. 

Binet, Alfred, Somnambulism — Alterations of Person- 
ality, New York, 1896. 

Scripture, Edward W., Stuttering and Lisping, New 
York, 1912. 

Bluemel, Charles S., Stammering and Cognate Defects 
of Speech, London, 1913. 

Forel, August, Hypnotism or Suggestion and Psycho- 
therapy, New York, 1906. 

Quackenbos, John D., Hypnotism in Mental and Moral 
Culture, New York, 1903. 

Fox, C. D., The Psychopathology of Hysteria, Boston. 

Hudson, Thompson J., The Law of Psychic Phenomena, 
Chicago, 1920. 



CHAPTEE XVIII 

THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 

On a sudden, in the midst of men and day, 
And while I walk 'd and talk 'd as heretofore, 
I seem'd to move among a world of ghosts, 
And feel myself the shadow of a dream. 

— Tennyson, The Princess. 

All the evidence of the foregoing chapters 
demonstrates two outstanding facts of the utmost 
importance to the individual's health and happi- 
ness. The first is the duality of personality — the 
elemental side being fundamentally primitive, and 
the intellectual side possessing widely varying 
rational and cultural possibilities. The second 
fact established is that the preponderance of hu- 
man ills and ailments is due to a lack of working 
adjustment between these two energetic forces 
that constitute the mechanism of personality. 

It therefore follows that the way to acquire a 
healthy organism (mental and physical) is to 
bring these two factors of the personality into 
harmonious relations. If there are severe, soul- 
torturing conflicts, they must, whenever possible, 
be traced down and eradicated by bringing them 
into the light of day. Another consideration of 
even more vital importance is to eliminate, as far 

344 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 345 

as possible, the repressive agencies that tend to 
create the conflicts, especially in childhood. 

Relieving Psychic Disturbances 

The experience of all the foremost exponents 
of psychotherapeutics has been that unconscious 
traumas may be healed, and their physical reflex- 
symptoms automatically eliminated, if the buried 
memories can be brought into consciousness. 

This, when rightly understood, is neither mys- 
tical nor supernormal. It is perfectly natural and 
logical, as it represents the working of the law 
of hygiene and sanitation, which is operative in 
the psychic realm as well as in the material. 
Among the great achievements of science during 
the last century was the development of the prin- 
ciple of personal hygiene and social sanitation. It 
has been the supreme factor in reducing the 
ravages of disease and in substantially lowering 
the mortality rate. 

The new psychology applies the same principle 
to the psychic sphere — and particularly to the 
deep, underlying region of the Unconscious, whose 
constant influence over us for good or ill we have 
stressed. No end of diseases, mental and physical, 
is caused by an accumulation of unhealthy psychic 
material below the threshold of consciousness. 
Emotional shocks in infancy or early childhood, 
that may have been due to excessive fear, worry 
or other cause which a rational, sympathetic ex- 



346 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

planation could have eased at the time, frequently 
leave their long-festering wounds. And these 
wounds, like those of the flesh, respond to hygienic, 
antiseptic treatment. They need psychic sunlight 
and intellectual oxygen. 

An insight into the psychic processes is like the 
soothing sunshine that casts its health-giving rays 
upon the body and stimulates the vitality of every 
organ. A recourse to thought-provoking ideas, 
and cultivating the habit of inductive analysis, is 
the oxygen of the intellect, that keeps it clear, 
plastic and adaptable. An understanding of the 
mechanism of the emotions and the autonomic 
functions of the personality is the key to the dual 
goal of self-mastery and self-expression. 

It was Dr. Breuer of Vienna, who about 1880, 
first struck upon the possibilities of removing 
deep-set psychoneurotic disturbances by relieving 
the mind of distressing, but unconscious, ideas. 
He called his system the " cathartic' ' method, 
which was well named, in that it indicated the 
purging of the mind of an incumbrance. This was 
a decided advance over the previous methods of 
the hypnotist who attempted to suggest the symp- 
toms away. 

Hypnotism, however, was in part responsible 
for Breuer 's accidental discovery of the fact that 
the unconscious mind obtains relief by bringing 
to light its festering ideas. The patient whom he 
had hypnotized began to talk, while in the som- 
nambulistic state, about the origin of the symp- 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 347 

toms, and gradually a mass of forgotten circum- 
stances connected with the seat of her trouble was 
reviewed. 

The girl, who was suffering from severe hallu- 
cinatory hysteria, noticed that the symptoms dis- 
appeared as soon as their hidden casual connection 
was brought into consciousness. Breuer was 
shrewd enough to continue the treatment along 
the same lines — i.e., encouraging the patient to re- 
veal the content of her subconscious mind, the 
"talking cure," she called it — until she was per- 
manently free from all her hysterical symptoms. 

It was, however, Breuer 's colleague, Dr. Freud, 
who sensed the greater possibilities of the newly 
discovered psychic principle, which he took up 
with enthusiasm, and developed into a highly 
ramified science under the term, Psychoanalysis. 
His outstanding contribution has been in remov- 
ing dream phenomena from the sphere of phan- 
tastic nonsense and placing them in the realm of 
abstract science. 

All the experience of the psychoanalytic school 
has borne out the original contention that symp- 
toms disappear when one has made their uncon- 
scious connections conscious. The most extraor- 
dinary and unexpected complications, however, 
are to be met in the practical application of 
analytic treatment. It therefore necessarily fol- 
lows that the effectiveness of the system is modi- 
fied by the opportunities for reaching the re- 
pressed psychic material. 



348 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

As the life experiences of the practitioner are 
different from those of the patient, it is evident 
that the former cannot remove the trouble by 
merely attempting to transfer his knowledge to 
the latter. The chief function of the analyst in 
the way of offering suggestions is to help the 
patient obtain a practical insight into his psychic 
operations. Beyond this, of course, he must be 
on the alert to seize upon any clues that may ap- 
pear to have a bearing on the repressed idea-com- 
plexes, and to encourage the patient (as Breuer 
first did) to talk about them. In the desired state 
of abstraction, the subject will then tend to go 
deeper and deeper below the threshold of con- 
scious mental activity, until the most remote re- 
gions of the psyche are plumbed and the obses- 
sional ideas, by their exposure, rendered harmless. 

Childhood Problems 

The prevalence of pernicious effects that are 
due to psychic traumas, mostly received in child- 
hood, or that are later made possible by the irra- 
tional training of childhood, should emphasize the 
desirability of building early a foundation of men- 
tal health. 

That there are serious economic barriers in the 
way of accomplishing this result among great 
masses of people is self-evident. That there are 
lamentable prejudices and other manifestations of 
ignorance that reinforce these barriers will not 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 349 

be gainsaid. The overcoming of these hindrances 
to racial health and human progress is a vast 
social and economic problem that space will not 
permit even touching upon here. 

Nevertheless, there is a constantly increasing 
number of people who are honestly desirous of 
improving their own personality, and giving the 
fullest advantages of intellectual emancipation to 
their children. It is these people who will appre- 
ciate the newly recognized rights of childhood and 
the higher responsibilities of parenthood. 

Child training of the past, and present, has been 
too largely a system of wholesale repressions, 
whereas expression is the law of life. If a healthy, 
wholesome outlet is not vouchsafed, then the 
"blocked" energy will simply break out in an in- 
dividually or socially destructive form. It is this 
training which makes on the one hand the neu- 
rotic children and on the other the "bad" chil- 
dren. 

The insubordinate child is a living protest against 
parental negativism. He is not encouraged along 
helpful lines that will develop his latent powers, 
and he receives only reprimands for his conduct, 
which grows increasingly mischievous. And in a 
sense he gains a form of substitute gratification, 
not only in his trouble-making, but in the chastise- 
ment itself. The primitive ego demands notice 
and consideration. It craves personal attention, 
which in a well-balanced childhood should be given 
by parents in the form of sympathetic counsel, 



350 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

helpful, stimulating suggestions and an abundance 
of actual cooperation. The boy (or girl) who 
abounds in vital energy, and is denied these balms 
of practical love, rather than soft sentimentality, 
finds that he does receive a flattering degree of 
notice when he commits mischievous acts. The 
thrill he derives from these exploits, which are 
invariably admired by his companions, and the 
attention he receives when caught, combine to em- 
phasize his importance as an individual. He may 
be punished for some real or imaginary wrong- 
doing, but at least he has succeeded in asserting 
his individuality. Furthermore, he is something 
of a martyr in his own eyes. Most important of 
all, he has escaped the ignominious fate of the 
nonentity. He is a personality. 

Severity towards and over indulgence of chil- 
dren are both inimical to the best development 
of their character. Constant criticisms tends to 
lessen a child's confidence in himself, and pamper- 
ing weakens his initiative and resourcefulness. 
If carried to extremes, the result in either case 
may be ruinous. The mechanism of the person- 
ality that utilizes the energy is not sufficiently de- 
veloped to dispose of the energetic force which 
the organism generates, so it blows off along some 
anarchistic, disorganized course. Thus comes the 
unadapted, and in time perhaps the unadaptable, 
personality. The legions who bear the hall-mark 
of futility and negativism are of this class. 

Children should not be * 'forced" intellectually 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 351 

beyond their years, with the idea of making prodi- 
gies out of them. Childhood should be a process 
of gradual, progressive growth, physical, emo- 
tional and mental, with full opportunities for an 
outlet of the playful side of the young, and not 
an attempt to cram the undeveloped mind with a 
mass of predigested information, greatly beyond 
its capacity for assimilation. 

Knowledge should be imparted in such a way 
as to stimulate the child's intelligence, i.e., it should 
be presented attractively enough for him to desire 
to grasp it, instead of being thrust at him. 
Furthermore, his mind should not be balked by 
unnecessary inhibitions, nor choked by repres- 
sions or fears, but encouraged by training in the 
arts of expression, emphasizing those that are 
most in harmony with his particular mental bent. 

Dr. C. W. Saleeby (Parenthood and Race Cul- 
ture) states in regard to "education by cram and 
emetic": "Just so do we cram the child's mental 
stomach, its memory, with a selection of dead 
facts of history and the like (at least when they 
are not fictions) and then apply a violent emetic 
called an examination (which like most other 
emetics causes much depression) and estimate our 
success by the number of statements which the 
child vomits on the examination paper — if the 
reader will excuse me. Further, if we are what 
we usually are, we prefer that the statements 
should come back 'unchanged' — showing no signs 



352 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

of mental digestion. We call this 'training the 
memory. ' " 

Other educators who are far-sighted students 
of human nature have similarly expressed them- 
selves, notably William Hawley Smith in his wise 
and inspiring book, All the Children of All the 
People. 

Power of Suggestion 

The determining power of suggestion on each 
individual from earliest infancy is so far-reaching 
that its effects cannot be estimated. Suggestion 
is at once glaringly obvious and indescribably 
subtle. The form that results in unconscious 
imitation of behavior is perhaps much more in- 
fluential in our lives than that consciously brought 
to bear upon us. The latter often has its antidote 
in arousing the spirit of combativeness. The man- 
ner in which it is presented may be offensive to 
one's ego, and therefore resisted. There is no 
such opposition, however, offered to those sugges- 
tions which are unconsciously noted, and which 
become fixed habits through unthinking imitation 
and repetition. 

Instinct itself, even in birds and animals where 
it is supposed to be quite paramount, is modified 
or thwarted when the environment lacks the ele- 
ment of suggestion conducive to normal develop- 
ment. 

E. P. Halleck (Education of the Central Nervous 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 353 

System), remarks, "If young birds are brought 
up where they cannot hear the song of their own 
species, they will never at a later time be able 
to sing the pure song of their kind." 

This is only one of countless instances that 
might be cited of instincts that are frustrated, or 
native abilities that are atrophied, by lack of ade- 
quate environmental suggestion. The songbird 
that is raised away from its kind can never fully 
develop its wonderful singing qualities because 
there is missing the powerful element of sugges- 
tion — a satisfactory vocal model to imitate. 

So it is that the child, too, from its first weeks 
of life begins to absorb impressions through its 
senses of perception. These are unconsciously 
noted, and with the infant's development, there 
is a growing evidence of its tendency to mimic — 
to respond to the suggestions that are constantly 
emanating from its environment. 

As the child is the most imitative of creatures, 
it will mimic "bad" actions as well as "good"; 
improper speech as well as proper. And as there 
is more often a reaction of exceptional interest 
on the part of adults to questionable things that 
children say or do, the latter are quick to perceive 
that they have aroused unusual attention, and de- 
light in holding this attention by following up the 
interesting lead they have struck through sheer 
imitation. 

Neurotic children, are literally bred in a neu- 
rotic environment as certainly as though neurotic 



354 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

nurseries were especially prepared for them. As 
the actions of a neurotic parent and others who 
may influence the child's life are apt to be either 
more interesting or more irritating than of those 
who are comparatively free from this affliction, 
the former are more likely to be imitated than the 
latter. The interesting and pleasingly eccentric 
traits are consciously seized upon and repeated, 
while the outstanding disagreeable or irritating 
actions are unconsciously repeated. In the course 
of time these subtle influences become ingrained 
into the character. So it is that the child who 
is a victim of such an environment suffers a 
handicap which may prove too great for him to 
overcome and he settles into an unadapted, 
neurotic adult. 

The power of suggestion is utilized to an im- 
measurable degree in all schools of therapeutics 
and healing. This holds true from the most 
materialistic medical practitioner (whose pills 
and prescriptions in themselves are potent agents 
of suggestion), to those healing cults that treat 
human ailments exclusively by suggestion, al- 
though they may attribute their curative proper- 
ties to some other cause. 

The successful practitioner cultivates an atmos- 
phere of cheerfulness so that his personality 
fairly radiates the suggestion of health. The in- 
fluence of a personality of this type in a sick room 
is profound. At the same time, it is subtle, and 
therefore all the more effective. The influence 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 355 

operates on the unconscious mind to a far greater 
extent than on the conscious mind, because the 
latter is apt to feel too keenly the seriousness of 
the physical disability. 

As the unconscious mind gets its impressions, 
not only in words, but more especially in pictures 
and symbolical representations, even a look of 
optimism and confidence will do much to effect a 
response of physical well-being. The physician's 
reassuring talk, and look of confidence regarding 
the patient's condition contribute a suggestion 
that impresses the patient with the belief in his 
recovery. 

It is a very illuminating hypothesis regarding 
autosuggestion that has been advanced by Coue 
of the New Nancy School, and supported by much 
evidence of its effectiveness. In the past the will 
has undoubtedly been overemphasized as a direct 
influencing factor in our conduct, especially relat- 
ing to health. Coue maintains that the will in- 
variably yields to imagination, and that imagina- 
tion is controlled and directed by autosuggestion. 

Coordinating the Psychic Powers 

The alleged laziness of man has been held 
answerable for innumerable of his shortcomings. 
It is taken for granted in many quarters that man 
is ever anxious to shirk his duties, and therefore 
" human nature" has been roundly condemned. 
That he does often side-step responsibilities and 



r 



356 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

duties is true, but might not some of the fault 
be with his training, his environment — even, in 
some instances, with the duties themselves? 

If the facts cited in this book have proven any 
contention, it is that the human organism is a 
literal dynamo of energy. It is the natural func- 
tion of this energy to express itself. The majority 
of the ills that afflict humanity is due to the failure 
of the complete organism to express itself ade- 
quately in a socially acceptable manner. When 
the energetic force is blocked or divided into con- 
flicting currents, we have laziness, ineffectiveness, 
futility. We see the results, but do not realize 
the underlying cause. 

Man, normally, is self -impelled to action. This 
characteristic of the race is more noticeable in 
children, who suffer less from blocked or diverted 
energy. The constant activity of a normal child 
is the marvel of all students of behavior. It is 
true that children do not like, and are injured 
by, the utilization of their energy in a routine 
manner. But the essential point is that they can, 
and do, express themselves tirelessly if permitted 
in a way that is adapted to their development at 
its various stages. That there is a sudden inter- 
ruption of their psychic development in so many 
cases at the climacteric of adolescence is due to 
the fact that the natural, primitive outlet, which 
they had access to in childhood, is largely cut off, 
and society fails to offer a satisfactory substitute. 
For the want of a satisfactory substitute, they 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 357 

symbolically revert to the pleasing irresponsi- 
bility of childhood, shirk their work, and too often 
fritter away their time in injurious practices. 

As William James has said, " Constructiveness 
is a genuine and irresistible instinct in man as 
in the bee or beaver." Actual laziness or inertia 
is an artificial habit inculcated by a pernicious 
environment. It is well known that prisoners 
have a horror of prison idleness. The lack of 
opportunity for normal expression of the per- 
sonality, and particularly of the primitive side 
of the personality — the Caveman — is the chief 
cause of prison- psychosis. 

The monotony of stereotyped or routine occu- 
pations, which fail to give an adequate outlet to 
the desire for creative expression, is responsible 
for untold psychic discord, with all its hurtful 
potentialities. Work that is seemingly ineffective 
or vain becomes the height of drudgery, whereas 
the constructive endeavor of craftsmanship gives 
play to an emotional spring lying deep in the 
primitive nature of man. Veblen alluded to this 
when he said that man has " a taste for effective 
work, and a distaste for futile effort." 

It is obvious from the material we have re- 
viewed that the far greater part of the maladap- 
tation of human beings to their environment is 
due to the lack of coordination between the primi- 
tive, unconscious desires and the conscious, 
socially trained ideals. And the latter are deter- 
mined by each individual's particular environ- 



358 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

ment, which is so often steeped in the negativism 
of repressions and inhibitions. Socially and in- 
dustrially, ethically and educationally, the primi- 
tive personality — the Caveman — is balked and 
thwarted on all sides. Still, he is vital and in 
unnumbered instances may be rehabilitated and 
conciliated by considerate treatment — which is not 
more "rest," but greater opportunities for ex- 
pression. 

As has been previously stated, if one's occupa- 
tion does not afford an adequate outlet for the 
ego urge or organic energy, then the personal 
interests should be broadened out until the gap 
is filled. In many cases, this is accomplished, to 
an extent at least, by activity ;n fraternal 
organizations or social movements. Again, the 
accumulating energy may be released in a highly 
beneficial way by taking up a hobby that offers 
free play to the creative instinct's. Special, spare- 
time constructive work in the arts, music, litera- 
ture or science is giving opportunities for ex- 
pression to a constantly increasing number of 
people. 

More people are capable of some socially use- 
ful and personally satisfying work along these 
lines than is commonly realized. Every one, ex- 
cept the hopelessly subnormal, has some degree 
of latent ability for creative endeavor. Jung re- 
marked that he was always impressed when 
analyzing people by the enormous amount of 
artistic ability, repressed or undeveloped, that he 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 359 

found in his patients. That there is a coordina- 
tion of conscious and unconscious processes in 
creative effort is plainly evidenced by the fact 
that there are required both the use of the 
rational faculties and the vital, autonomic 
energies of the emotional nature. 

I can give no better illustration of the possibili- 
ties of successfully coordinating the psychic 
powers, with untold benefit to the physical organ- 
ism, than to cite a case that has had my personal 
attention. The subject acknowledges receiving 
his only therapeutic help from my experience, and 
this fact, together with my intimate knowledge 
of his history, gives the fullest authenticity to 
my observations. 

The person in question, who is in his mid- 
thirties, had suffered from heart disturbances 
from childhood. At times the cardiac trouble was 
so pronounced that even the moderate physical 
effort required in his clerical duties quite ex- 
hausted him. He was considerably under-weight, 
and had been during all his adult years, was pale, 
suffered at times from extremely low blood pres- 
sure, and was subject to a form of anxiety 
neurosis. His anxiety and worries, which char- 
acteristically appeared to emanate from uncon- 
scious motives, were consciously concerned with 
his heart disability. There were times when even 
a short walk caused severe disturbances in the 
heart action. 

The patient was studiously inclined, and 



360 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

usually spent two or three hours each evening 
reading or writing. He had some small success 
in disposing of short stories and other literary 
work which he had taken up, but was advised by 
his relatives, on account of his chronic run-down 
condition and heart trouble, to give up the con- 
fining night work, and get more rest and sleep. 

My observation of the case, from the subject's 
history, was that the trouble was not due to over- 
work, but to lack of psychic coordination, result- 
ing in anxiety or worry, largely unconscious, and 
probably consciously associated with the dis- 
tressing heart symptoms. 

The first constructive suggestion was to ac- 
quaint him with the comparatively little danger 
from most heart disturbances as long as a few 
dietetic rules are observed, and physical excesses 
are avoided. In this case coffee was eliminated 
from the regular diet, although it might be drunk 
now and then, preferably not over a couple of 
times a week. As his occupation was sedentary, 
heavy, greasy foods were to be avoided as con- 
sistently as possible, and meat limited to once a 
day. 

These minor regulations, which did not vary 
much from the patient's previous dietetic prac- 
tices, were the only physical rules laid down. All 
other treatment was psychic. The subject was 
made acquainted with the details of the emotional 
mechanism and autonomic functions of the per- 
sonality, and with the intricacies and interrela- 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 361 

tions of the conscious and unconscious mental 
processes. This enlightenment, which is covered 
by the subject-matter of the first half of this book 
and some of the later chapters, gave the patient 
a thorough insight into his organism as a whole, 
physical and psychic, in all its ramifications. 

The understanding which he gainec 1 in the 
analysis of his unconscious conflicts relieved the 
long-standing physical symptoms. He has not 
been bothered by the former anxiety or worry, 
which he could hardly describe or define, but 
which was nevertheless very real. 

As a result of the newly released energy, form- 
erly consumed in internal conflicts, his health has 
been vastly improved and his efficiency increased 
many fold. Let us see what this coordination of 
the psychic energies has wrought. 

In the year which has just elapsed as I write 
these lines, he has worked every day in a respon- 
sible position requiring a high degree of mental 
and physical energy. His duties are multitudi- 
nous and exacting. His hours, including com- 
muting time, are long. He leaves home before 
eight in the morning and returns home about 
seven in the evening. 

At night during this period of exactly one year, 
he has written three complete books, which have 
been highly praised by competent authorities who 
have read either the published work or the manu- 
script. During the same time he has read about 
fifty books, principally on scientific subjects, and 



362 THE CAVEMAN WITHIN US 

written a number of special articles and book re- 
views for important periodicals. He is busy, and 
has been for the past twelve months, eighteen 
hours a day. His usual sleeping period is less 
than six hours. 

What has been the effect physically of this 
strenuous work, made possible by harmonizing 
the psychic energies? He has gained fifteen 
pounds of healthy flesh, pulling him up from 
chronic underweight to normal weight for his 
height and age. His color has improved, all the 
functions of the body are operating better than 
in many years; and, most important of all, the 
heart disturbances of many years' standing have 
disappeared. Business friends, who are not ac- 
quainted with his private affairs, have compli- 
mented him on his healthy appearance, which has 
so greatly improved during the past year, and 
not infrequently they ask what "rest cure" he 
has taken. 

A few concrete facts are often more illuminat- 
ing than a wnole library of theories, and so I have 
given a brief sketch containing the salient facts 
of an actual case. It is unnecessary to go into 
further details regarding this particular case be- 
cause to an extent, each case is an individual one, 
with its own problems, difficulties and idiosyn- 
crasies. However, the basis of almost all psychic 
and most physical irregularities is a lack of co- 
ordination of the mechanism of the personality 
— i.e., a conflict of greater or lesser degree be- 
tween its primitive and intellectual components. 



THE CAVEMAN CONCILIATED 363 

It is this highly complicated situation which the 
present volume, as a whole, attempts to analyze 
and clarify, and by so doing bring to the reader 
a real insight into the mechanism of his own 
personality. Just to that extent that the reader 
succeeds in seeing his inner self mirrored, he 
will to that degree be physically, mentally and 
spiritually benefited. He will find himself 
alienated from many of his ailments, and the effi- 
ciency of his energetic forces, creative powers and 
rational faculties correspondingly increased. All 
the functions of his personality will tend to be- 
come coordinated — the Caveman will be con- 
ciliated. 

Under the rules of correct reasoning, I have a right 
to assume that man has two minds. — Thompson J. Hud- 
son, The Law of Psychic Phenomena. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bruce, H. Addington, Nerve Control and How to Gain 

It, New York, 1918. 
Evans, Elida, The Problem of the Nervous Child, New 

York, 1920. 
Lay, Wilfrid, The Child's Unconscious Blind, New York, 

1919. 
Smith, William Hawley, All the Children of All the 

People, New York, 1919. 
Key, Ellen, The Century of the Child, New York, 1916. 
Baudouin, Charles, Suggestion and Autosuggestion, 

New York, 1921. 
Brooks, C. Harry, The Practice of Autosuggestion (by 

.the Method of Emil Coue), New York, 1922. 

THE END 



INDEX 



Abercrombie, 55 

Adjustment of energetic forces, 

3 
to problems of life, 2 
Adler, Alfred, 182, 205, 208 
Adolescence, 30, 108, 227 
Adonis, 87 
Adrenal glands, 36 
Adrenin, 37 
Adventure, 99, 114 
iEschines, 51 
iEschylus, 51 

iEsculapius, Temple of, 84 
^Esop, 208, 330 
Ailments, neurotic, 159 
Alcibiades, 330 

Alexander the Great, 208, 289 
Alma Z, 314 
Alternating personalities, 306, 

314 
American Indian, primitive 

habits, 28 
Angesthesia, hysterical, 6 
Ancient culture, 51 

alchemists, 198 
Animals, classes of, 23 
Anthropoid ape, 18 
Arabs, customs of, 193 
Aristides, 50, 51, 84 
Aristophanes, 51 
Aristotle, 50, 51, 52, 71, 208, 

330 
Army mental tests, 222 
Ascetics, 10, 157 
Ashtaroth, 191 
Asia, three churches of, 198 
Astronomers, ancient, 293 
Atheists, 7 
Athenian race, 52 



Attica, 51 

Attitudes, 36, 40 

Autonomic nervous system, 31, 
114, 205 
cranial and sacral sections, 34 
sympathetic division, 34 
vagotonic division, 34 

Autosexual, 149 

Autosuggestion, 129, 355 

Auxerre, Council of, 7 

Baal, 191 

Bacchus, 66, 87 

Bacon, Francis, 78, 238, 245, 
294 

Eoger, 59, 249 
Balzac, 287, 296 
Bateson, William, 52 
Beauchamp, Miss Christine L., 

306 
Bedlam, 288 
Bel, Temple of, 80 
Bergson, 204 
Biogenesis, Law of, 22 
Blackstone, Sir William, 7 
Blake, William, 284 
Blood sugar, 37, 38 
Bourne, Ansel, 318 
Bousfield, Paul, 148, 334 
Brace, Julia, 209 
Brahe, Tycho, 10, 293 
Brain, African negro's, 56 

complexity, 54 

European's, 56 

fag, 160 

size, 54 

weight, 55 
Breure, Dr., 346 
Bridgman, Laura, 208 



36S 



366 



INDEX 



Bronte family, 288 
Brown-Sequard, 336 
Bruce, H. Addington, 83 
Bruno, 106, 296 
Buddha, Gautama, 159, 299 
Bunyan, John, 302 
Burns, Eobert, 286 
Byron, Lord, 208, 282 

Caesar, 208, 289 
Calkins, Prof., 231 
Cannon, Walter B., 38 
Cardan, 330 
Cathartic method, 346 
Carlyle, 211, 245, 297 
Cellini, Benvenuto, 280 
Charles V, 208, 290, 330 
Chatterton, Thomas, 288 
Childhood, emotional stages, 30 

primitive tendencies, 29 

problems, 226, 348 
Chopin, 281, 296 
Christ and the two thieves, 197 
Christian Science, 103 
Church, the, 7, 189, 211 

symbolism, 14 
Cicero, 204 
Cimon, 51 

Civilization, veneer of, 43 
Clive, 290 

Coleridge, 127, 288, 295 
Collins, Wilkie, 287 
Complex, authority, 209 
Complete amnesia, 310 
Comstock, Anthony, 269 
Comte, August, 295 
Confession, 201 
Conflicts, childhood, 100 
Conklin, Edwin Grant, 17, 52, 

56, 58 
Conservatism, 217 
Contraceptive measures, 232 
Coordinating psychic powers, 

355 
Copernicus, 293 



Cou6, Emile, 355 

Council of Auxerre, 7 

Cowper, 285 

Criminal, genius of slums, 31 

social product, 232 
Cromwell, 291 
Cross, ancient symbol, 191 
Crowd witch-hunting, 248 
Culture, early, 46 
Cuvier, 55, 57, 294 

d'Abrantes, Dutehesse, 55 
Daltonism, 143 
Dante, 296 

DaVinci, Leonardo, 280 
De Sade, Marquis, 154 
Darwin, Charles, 52, 53, 61, 120, 
208, 258, 298, 330 

Erasmus, 61, 330 

Francis, 61 

George, 61 
De Foe, 287 
Demetrius, 51 
De Morgan, 55 
Demosthenes, 51, 208, 330 
De Quincey, 208, 287 
Descartes, 294 
Desiderius, 330 
Desires, primitive, 92 
De Tocqueville, 246 
Deuteronomy, 7 
Devil, 4, 6 
Devil's claw, 6 
Dewey, John, 19, 44 
Dickens, Charles, 123, 287 
Disraeli, Benjamin, 292 
Dissociated personalities, 328 
Donizetti, 282 
Dore, 281 

Dostoevsky, 166, 208 
Dreams, age of interest in, 68 

and insanity, 183 

day, 93 

falling, 85 

flying, 85 



INDEX 



367 



Dreams, indicating physical ail- 
ments, 83 

inspirational, so-called, 75 

literature of, 67 

prophetic, 75 

symbolical, 86 

typical, 85 

"wish-fulfilment, 73 
Dual nature, 3, 118 
Dubois, 17 
Du Bois, Paul, 160 
Ductless glands, 31, 36, 114,205 
Dumas, Alexander, 2S7 

Karl of Chatham, 291 
Eastman, Monk, 263 
Ecstaties, 10 
Eden, Garden of, 6 
Edison, Thomas A., 92, 208 
Ego and names, 122 

urge, 205 
Egypt, 191 
Egyptians, 190 
Ejaculatio prcvcox, 180 
Elan vital, 204 
Electra complex, 164 
Eliot, George, 288 
Ellis, Havelock, 56 
Emerson, 167, 245 
Emotional immaturity, 225, 241 
Emotions, 36, 37, 226* 
Endocrine glands, 31, 36, 205 
Epictetus, 208, 245 
Epilepsy, 328 
Erasmus, 330 
EmraeouB actions and speech, 

130 
Euripides, 51, 139 
Evans, Elida, 68 
Evil eye, 5 

spirits, 4, 9 
Evolution, intellectual, 52 

of man, 18 
Exhibitionism, 152 
Exodus, 7 



Faith, hope and charity, 197 
Faraday, 58, 294 
Fear, 165 

obsessional, 166 
Fenrer, Wolf of, 209 
Ferenczi, 226 
Fetal life, 147 
Fetichism, 150 
Fielding, Henry, 288 
Fischer, Doris, case of, 321 
Flaubert, G., 249, 276, 287, 343 
Flaxman, John, 280 
Folklore, 3, 12, 89, 196 
Forel, August, 271 
Forgetfulness, 118 
Forlong, Gen. J. G. E., 192 
Fox, George, 302 
Francis of Assisi, 301 
Frank, Leo, 243 
Frederick the Great, 291 
Freud, Sigmund, 73, 110, 125, 

140, 173, 178, 204, 347 
Fuseli, 281 

Galen, 84 

Galileo, 106, 293 

Galton, Francis, 51, 61, 233, 

277 
Gauss, 55, 57 
Genitals, female, 14, 194 

horseshoe symbols, 193 

male, 195 
Genius, and insanity, 277 

artistic, 279 

definitions, 279 

literary, 282 

philosophic and scientific, 293 

political and military, 288 

religious, 299 
Georgia, 191 
Gessner, Conrad, 84 
Giddings, Franklin H., 273 
Gill-slits, hnman, 25 
Giorgione, 280 
Glycogen, 37, 38 



368 



INDEX 



Glycosuria, 38 
Goddard, H. H., 54 
Goethe, 168, 245, 277 
Goldsmith, 285 
Goodhart, S. P., 312 
Greek culture, 44 
race, early, 51 
Greeks, 191 
Grote, 55 

Hemophilia (bleeding disease), 

143 
Halleck, K. P., 352 
Halted mental development, 

221 
Hamlet, 72 
Hammond, 84 
Hanna, Thomas C, 310 
Harden, 244 
Hart, Dr. Bernard, 10 
Harvey, 294 
Hausmann, 56 
Hegel, 296 
Heine, 287, 296 
Helvetius, 260, 277 
Heraelitus, 67 
Heredity and environment, 53, 

230 
Hilprecht, Prof., 80 
Hitsehmann, E., 88, 173 
Hollander, Bernard, 59 
Hollowe'en, 4 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 277 
Holy Trinity, 197 

men of Middle Ages, 265 
Homer, 208 
Homo-sapieiis, 19 
Homosexuality, 146 
Horme, 204 

Horseshoe, symbols, 193 
Hugo, 296 
Humor, 99, 101 
Humphrey, Seth K., 253, 262 
Hyjpnosis, 340 



Hysteria, 176, 181 

anxiety, 181 
Hysterical anaesthesia, 6 

tumor, 177 

Ibsen, 1, 211 

Ictinus, 51 

Idiots, 10 

Imitative behavior, 239 

India, 191 

Indians, North and Souta 

American, 191 
Insanity, demonological, 9 

descriptions of, 182 

graduations of, 184 

in retrospect, 9 
Insight, 2, 346, 361 
Instincts, biological, 21, 27 

frustrated, 353 

of workmanship, 216, 357 
Intellectual capacity and knowl- 
edge, 50 

evolution, 52 
Irene, case of, 332 
Irwin, Will, 47 
Isocrates, 51 
I. W. W., 215 

Jaek-the-ripper, 155 

James, William, 37, 116, 167, 

245, 278, 318, 357 
Janet, Pierre, 206, 332 
Janus-face, 118 
Jelliffe, Smith Ely, 32, 149 
Jesus, 10, 200 
Joan of Arc, 301 
Jocasta, 140 
John the Baptist, 156 
Johnson, Dr., 284 
Jokes, 99 

and ancient taboos, 109 

mother-in-law, 109 
Jones, Ernest, 88, 121 
Jordan, David Starr, 18 
Jung, C. G., 186, 204, 358 
Jurassic age, 17 






INDEX 



369 



Kant, 182, 294 
Keats, 286 
Kepler, 294 
Keller, Helen, 208 
Kellogg, Vernon, 52 
Kentucky, 192 
Keyser, Cassius J., 15 
Khayyam, Omar, 189 
Kimmins, C. W., 74 
Koran, 13 

Korzybski, Alfred, 62, 239 
Krauss, A., 183 

Lamb, Charles, 208, 278, 284, 
330 
Mary, 284 
Lanier, Sidney, 117 
Lao Tse's Tao, 13 
Latzko, Andreas, 257 
Laughter, 112 
Lawrence, 281 
Le Bon, 56, 245 
Lee, Nathaniel, 288 
Legends, 3, 89 
Lenin, 214 
Leopold, 110 
Leviticus, 7 
Libido, 54, 173, 202 
Liebknecht, Karl, 244 
Lincoln, 292 
Livcrsege, 281 
Locke, 277 
Loeb, Jackque, 216 
Lombroso, Cosarc, 236, 278, 

297 
Love joy, 243 
Loyola, Ignatius, 301 
Luther, 300 
Luys, 342 
Lysias, 51 
Lytton, Buhrer, 286 

Maclise, 281 
Maeder, A. E., 122 
Maeterlinck, 129 



Maladaptation, 159 

Maladjustments, 172 

Malherbe, 330 

Man, ascent of, 16 

Marshall, 56 

Martin, Everett Dean, 241, 243, 

254 
Masoch, Sacher, 156 
Masochism, 154 
Mason, Osgood, 315 
McDougall, William, 52, 221 
Megalomania, 296 
Meissonier, 281 
Memory, and repressions, 123 
Mendelssohn, 281, 330 
Mental recapitulation, 26 
Mew, Charlotte, 195 
Michel Angelo, 279 
Middle Ages, beliefs of, 10 

fanaticism of, 106 

suppression of, 58 
Mill, John Stuart, 295 
Militiades, 51 
Milton, 208, 285 
Mind, abstraction and concen- 
tration, 82 
Mislaying objects, 124 
Mistakes in writing, 132 
Mob, etymology of, 241 

mass and class, 243 

psychology, 242 
Mohammed, 208, 299 
Mb'rike, 89 

Morland, George, 281 
Mozart, 55, 208 
Multiple personality, 306 
Mythological characters, 87 
Mythology, 12, 89 

Hebraic, 200 

Napoleon, 55, 92, 129, 208, 258, 

289 
Narcissism, 149 
Narcissus, 88 
National uiobs and war, 254 



370 



INDEX 



Nervous system, autonomic, 31, 
40 

sensori-motor, 40 
Neurasthenia, 160, 179 

from alleged overwork, 161 
Neuroses, 176 

and overwork, 180 

anxiety, 180 

diseased ideas, 187 

kinds of, 178 

physical symptoms, 176 
Neurotic children, 353 

negativism, 168, 211, 350 
Newbold, William Eomaine, 59, 

60 
New Thought, 163 
Newton, Isaac, 52, 58, 294 
Nietzsche, F., 71, 134, 169, 205, 

211, 245, 297 
Nordenskjold, Otto, 74 

Odin, 209 

OEdipus complex, 72, 164 

King, 139 
O'Hare, Kate Richards, 243 
Old Adam, the, 98, 176, 291 
Organic inferiority and com- 
pensation, 205 
Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 16 
Osiris, 87 

Paganini, 282 
Parathyroid glands, 36 
Parent image, 137, 143 

fixation, 143 
Parker, Carleton H., 19, 215 
Partial amnesia, 334 
Pascal, 165, 295 
Passion, unconscious, 134 
Pasteur, 58 
Pearson, Karl, 142 
Peeping Tom, 152 
Pericles, 51 
Personality, cultural, 43 

primitive, 15, 36 



Peter the Great, 290 
Petrarch, 208 
Pfaff, E. R., 65 
Pfister, Oskar, 132 
Pithe-canthropis erectus, 17 
Phallic images, 191 

mounds, 192 

symbols, 88, 192 

worship, 190 
Phallicism, 13, 190 
Phallus, shrine of, 13 
Phidias, 51 
Phocion, 51 
Phoenicians, 190 
Phyla, new animal, 17 
Pitt, William, 291 
Pituitary gland, 36, 39 
Plato, 51, 52 
Pleasure principle, 174 
Pliocene period, 18 
Pogroms, 251 
Poe, Edgar Allan, 288 
Polygnotus, 51 
Pompeians, 191 
Pornophilia, 264 
Praxiteles, 51 
Pregnancy, phantom, 177 
Prince, Morton, 167, 231, 307 
Prince, Walter Franklin, 321 
Professional reformers, 261 
Protagoras, 245 
Protozoa,, 23 

Psychology, Freudian, 75, 141 
Psj-ehoanalysis, 347 
Psychoneuroses, 178, 180 
Psychoses, 176, 181 
Puritanical fanaticism, 271 

obsessions, 271 
Pyramids, 14, 192 

Quakerism, 302 
Quintuple personality, 321 

Race riots, 251 
Radicalism, 212 



INDEX 



371 



Rank, Otto, 141 
Raphael, 280 
Reality principle, 174 
Reasoning, primitive, 8 
Recapitulation, law of, 21 

individual life, 49 

mental, 26 
Relieving psychic disturbances, 

345 
Religion, emotional appeal, 12, 

189 
Religious traditions, 189 
Reservoirs of power, 37 
Resurrection, the, 197 
Revelation, 198 
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 280 
Richelieu, 291 
Rolland, Romain, 257 
Romiti, 330 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 208 
Rosa, Salvator, 280 
Rousseau, J. J., 296 
Rubens, 280 

Sadism, 154 

St. Paul, 208, 300 

Saleeby, C. W., 235, 236, 271, 

351 
Salome, 156 
Santayana, George, 98 
Savonarola, 301 
Schelling, 198 
Schiller, 55, 2S7 
Schopenhauer. 182, 211, 215, 

277, 297 
Schubert, 282 
Schumann, 282 
Scott, Sir "Walter, 286 
Secretions, glandular, 26 
Sex symbolism, 88, 190 
Soxual processes, disturbances 

of, 178 
Shakespeare, 52, 72, 101, 172, 

283 
Shaler, N., 63 



Sholl-shock, 102, 335 
Sidis, Boris, 300, 312 
Silurian age, 17 
Sin, original, 8 
Sleep, normal regression, 90 
Smith, Joseph (founder of 
Mormonism), 302 

William Hawley, 352 
Socrates, 50, 51, '208, 245, 293 
Social inhibitions, 272 
Somnambulism, 129, 330 
Sophocles, 51, 139 
Sorceress, 7 
Soviets, 243 
Southey, 285 
Spencer, Herbert, 278 
Spurious superiority, 5, 105, 

169 
Stevenson, R, L., 208 
Stone, Lee Alexander, 190 
Strindberg, 211 
Stuck, Franz, 89 
Suggestion, 352 
Sunday, Billy, 250, 268 
Swedenborg, 302 
Swift, 245, 284 
Swisher, W. S., 86 
Symbolism, in cemeteries, 193 

in ceremonies, 196 

in numbers, 197 

in poetry, 89, 195 

language of primitive per- 
sonality, 199 

phallic, 88," 190 

universality of, 194 

Taboos, ancient, 109 
Talismans, 14, 191, 193 
Talmud, the, 13 
Tartaglia, 330 
Tennessee, 191 
Tennyson, 344 
Tertullian, 274 
Testament, New, 13, 2W 
Old, 7, 9, 13, 200 



372 INDEX 






Themistocles, 51 

Theophrastus, 51 

Thomas, Edward, 234 

Thorndike, E. L., 19 

Thucydides, 51 

Thurman, 56 

Thymus, 36 

Thyroid glands, 36, 39 

Tiedemann, 56 

Timoleon, 208 

Trauma, psychic, 185, 348 

Treves, 5 

Triassic age, 17 

Tridon, Andrg, 241 

Trinil, Java, 17 

Troglodyte, 2, 33, 185 

Trumbull, Charles G., 269 

Tyr, 209 

Tyranny of crowd spirit, 246 

Turenne, 330 

Unconscious memories, 127 
Untiring nerves, 160 
Urine tests, 38, 39 
Utica, Cato of, 330 

Vandyck, 280 

Veblen, 357 

Venus, 149 

Vidar, 209 

Virgil, 208, 330 

Virgin Mary, 101 

Visions, hallucinatory, 10, 301 

Volta, 236 

Voltaire, 211, 260, 296 



Voyeur, 152 
Vulcan, 209 

Wagner, 281 

Wallace, Alfred Rusael, 20 

War, expenditures for, 47 

and national mobs, 254 

hysteria, 257 
War-like tendencies, 46, 

254 
Watson, John B., 19 
Watt, 295 
Weber, 282 
Wedgwood, Josiah, 61 
Wellington, 289 
Wesley, life of, 202 
Western Hemisphere, 191 
Wickliffe, 302 
Wilde, Oscar, 156 
Williams, Ben Ames, 305 
Willis, Francis, 338 
Winslow, Forbes, 336 
Wit, 99, 101 

characteristic brevity, 103 

laughter, 112 

primitive, 104 
Witch, Old Mother, 4 

hunting, 105, 248 
Witchcraft, 4, 6, 7 
Worry and fear, 165 
Worship, nature, 190 

phallic, 190 
Wundt, 183 

Xenophon, 51 



114, 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




